10/16/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 42/ Day: 289   

Today: L 23°…H 56°… Ave. humidity: 45%

Wind: ave:   8mph; Gusts:  25mph  

Average Low: 31° Record Low:  13° (1984)

Average High: 63° Record High:  78° (1991)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

"Gordo" comic strip (by Gus Arriola) 1st appears in newspapers…1941

1st US homeopathic medical college opens in Pennsylvania…1848

Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah…1875

Charlotte Bronte's book "Jane Eyre" published…1847

Desmond Tutu, black Anglican Bishop, wins Nobel Peace Prize…1984

Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio founded…1923

Hotel in Boston becomes 1st to have indoor plumbing…1869

Million Man March held in Wash DC (over 800,000 black men attend)…1995

Portland, Maine burned by British…1775

Texas School Board prohibits teaching of evolution…1925

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Is there any sanity left in the Republican party? Every time the news says they are close to a deal to open the government the far right adds a new condition. Now they want to talk Social Security. Really, this is insanity at its worse. Some idiot Republican Congressman put on his FB page that government workers should go to their local banks to get a short term loan to pay their bills now, since their employer isn’t going to pay them.  These people seem to have no connection to the real world. I just get more and more frustrated every time I turn on CNN.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Find a rhyme for each word below so you end up with a familiar three-word phrase in the form "__, __, and __". Number 7 is in the form "___, ___, or ___".
Example: Clue = "Cook, Wine, Drinker" Answer = "Hook, Line, and Sinker"

1. Palm, Pool, Protected 2. Deer, Chose, Goat 3. Life, Stork, Prune 4. Bomb, Click, Scary 5. Pup, Cup, Convey 6. Smell, Took, Sandal 7. Spin, Clues, Law

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• TOPPER

• Tennessee Ernie Ford and Johnny Cash-Together!

• James A. Michener

• I Speak Jive - Airplane!

• The American Experience: Eugene O'Neill

• John Mayer - Your Body Is A Wonderland

• ANGELA LANSBURY INTRODUCES HONOREE BETTE DAVIS

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias

If you have an irrational fear of... Fur
You're suffering from... Doraphobia Greek dora 'hide'

If you have an irrational fear of... Gaiety
You're suffering from... Cherophobia Greek to rejoice

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

• Percentage of men in dual-income marriages who said they struggled with work-family conflict in 1977: 35

• Who say it today: 64

Amazing Facts About The Human Body

Testicles: A man’s testicles manufacture 10 million new sperm cells each day – enough that he could repopulate the entire planet in only 6 months!

Unusual Fact of the Day

Mark Twain was born in 1835, a year in which Halley’s comet was visible from earth. In 1909, he wrote, “I came in with Halley’s comet…and I expect to go out with it.” When he died on April 21, 1910, the comet was again visible in the night sky.

Joke-of-the-day

Two boy scouts went on a nature hike in the hills picking hickory nuts.

Along the way, they filled their small pails and then started to fill their pockets and shirts.

When they could hold no more nuts, they started down the country road until they came across a cemetery. The boys decided that would be a good place to stop and rest and divide out the nuts.

The two boys sat in the shade of a large oak tree and unloaded their pockets and buckets by dumping all of the nuts in a large pile.

In the process, two of them rolled away and rested near the road. The boys then proceeded to divide out the nuts. "One for you. One for me. One for you. One for me."

As they were doing this, another boy was passing by and happened to hear them. He looked into the cemetery, but could not see the boys, because they were obscured by the tree. He hesitated a moment and then ran back to town.

"Father! Father!" he yelled as he entered his house. "The cemetery. Come quick!"

"What's the matter?" his father asked.

"No time to explain," the boy frantically panted. "Follow me!"

The boy and his father ran up the country road and stopped when they reached the cemetery. They stopped at the side of the road and all fell silent for a few moments. Then the father asked his son what was wrong.

"Do you hear that?" he whispered. Both people listened intently and heard the Scouts. "One for me. One for you. One for me. One for you..."

The boy then blurted out, "The devil and the Lord are dividing the souls!"

The father was skeptical but silent -- until a few moments later as the Scouts completed dividing out the nuts and one Scout said to the other, "Now, as soon as we get those two nuts down by the road, we'll have them all."  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

AVOID AN ACCIDENT

If the driver in front of you makes a mistake, give him plenty of room because there is a high probability that he is going to make one or two more shortly.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

The Magic Restroom Cafe in southern California's City of Industry is America's first toilet-themed eatery. All the dishes, seats and food items are all focused on toilets, bathrooms and human bodily functions.

Customers hoping for a crappy dining experience sit on stools topped with toilet seats and order appetizing menu items like "golden poop rice," "black poop" (actually a chocolate sundae), "smells-like-poop" (braised pork over rice)," and "bloody number two" (vanilla-strawberry sundae).

Those defecation-themed dishes are then served in miniature toilet bowls, according to Eater L.A., which recommends the Stinky Tofu as the most appropriate food choice.

Owner YoYo Li is a first-time restaurateur from China who decided to open her commode-themed restaurant after noticing the popularity of the Modern Toilet restaurant chain in China and Taiwan, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Magic Restroom Cafe officially opened Oct. 11 and, so far, the decor is getting better reviews than the food.

It is averaging 3 stars on Yelp and most of the complaints are based on slow service (possibly from a backed-up kitchen) and cold food. The official grand opening is set for later in the month.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• In the tropical rainforest it gets about 80 to 400 inches of rain yearly. If it is raining really hard, it gets about 2 inches of rain per hour.

• One tree can provide enough oxygen for 2 people to live off of for their whole lives.

• The lowest place in North America is Death Valley at 282 feet below sea level.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

10-16

Take Your Medicine Americans Week
13-19

Bullying Bystanders Unite Week
Earth Science Week
Freedom From Bullies Week
Getting The World To Beat A Path To Your Door Week
National Chestnut Week 
National Food Bank Week
Teen Read Week
YWCA Week Without Violence
14-18

National School Lunch Week
YWCA Week Without Violence 

Today Is                                                                      

·        Boss's Day (or National Boss's Day) 

·        Department Store Day

·        Dictionary Day

·        National Feral Cat Day

·        National Fossil Day

·        National Take Your Parents To Lunch Day

·        Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity

·        Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce

·        World Food Day

Today’s Events through History  

2 secret US military satellites launched from Cape Canaveral…1963

Much of ancient structures of the Palace of Westminster (parliament) in London 

     is burnt down…1834

Tremont Hotel, 1st US modern hotel opens (Boston)…1829

USAF sends 2 aluminum bullets into space…1957

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Angela Lansbury, actress (Jessica-Murder She Wrote) is 88

Barry Corbin, actor (Maurice-Northern Exposure) is 73

Suzanne Somers, actress (3's Company, Step by Step) is 57

Tim Robbins, actor (Bull Durham, Shawshank Redemption) is 55

John Mayer, guitarist, singer-songwriter, and producer is 36

Remembered for being born today

King James II of Scotland [1430-1460]

Noah Webster, lexicographer (Webster's Dictionary) [1758-1843]

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Dublin, (Pic of Dorian Gray) [1854-1900]

Michael Collins, Sam's Cross County Cork, Irish revolutionary leader [1899-1922]

Eugene O'Neill, dramatist (Desire Under the Elms-Nobel 1936) [1888-1953]

David Ben-Gurion, Plonsk Poland, 1st Prime Minister of Israel [1886-1973]

[Leon] Goose Goslin, baseball hall of famer (AL bat champ 1928) [1900-1971]

Alice Pearce, comedienne/actress (Gladys Kravitz-Bewitched) [1916-1977]

Charles W Colson, presidential adviser (Watergate figure) [1931-2012]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Barbara Billingsley, actress (Leave it to Beaver)…2010…@94

James Michener, writer (Hawaii)…1997…@90

Leo G Carroll, actor (Topper, Man From Uncle)…cancer…1972…@79

Pierre Salinger, John F. Kennedy's White House Press Secretary…heart 

     failure…2004…@79

George Marshall, US army general…1959…@78

Cornel Wilde, actor (Saadia, Comic, Beach Red, Gargoyles)…cancer…1989…@74

Tennessee Ernie Ford, country singer (16 Tons)….liver failure…1981…@72

Gene Krupa, US swing drummer (Sing Sing Sing)…cancer…1973…@64

William Holden, actor (Casino Royale)…bled to death…1981…@63

Dan Dailey, dancer and actor (Governor & JJ)…anemia…1978…@62

Marie Antoinette, queen of France…beheaded…1793…@37

Dan Wheldon, English auto racer…speedway accident…2011…@33

Brain Teasers

1. Calm, Cool, and Collected 2. Ear, Nose, and Throat 3. Knife, Fork, and Spoon 4. Tom, Dick, and Harry 5. Up, Up, and Away 6. Bell, Book, and Candle 7. Win, Lose, or Draw

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  §