10/23/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 43/ Day: 296   

Today: L 23°…H 63°… Ave. humidity: 44%

Wind: ave:   3mph; Gusts:  10mph  

Average Low: 29° Record Low:  10° (1906)

Average High: 60° Record High:  76° (2003)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st Jewish prayer books printed in US…1760

1st plastic surgery is performed (England)…1814

25,000 women march in NYC, demanding right to vote…1915

Apple releases the iPod…2001

NAACP petition on racism, "An Appeal to the World" presented to UN…1947

Outbreak of the Irish Rebellion - Catholic uprising in Ulster…1641

Tornado (possible T8/F4) strikes the heart of London demolishes wooden London 

      Bridge…1091 

USSR lends money to UAR to build Aswan High Dam…1958

Walt Disney's "Dumbo" released…1941

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Great day, blue sky, no wind, fairly nice temperatures…gotta love this mountain town.

So HHS tries out the health care website about a week before it is made live for the public. With 200 users it crashes. The Secretary knew it and decided not to bother the President, her immediate supervisor. Now she says they are bringing in the A-Team. Her answer: The store is open and the shelves are full. And this woman still has her job? Unbelievable. Not that her resignation will fix anything, but it would show that Obama expects excellence. I guess in the end it doesn’t matter since anyone sighning up won’t be covered until January anyway…we are just trained to be ‘in the minute’.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Can you figure out what A.A. Milne was referring to in this verse from his "When We Were Very Young" book?

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet, She wore her greenest gown; She turned to the south wind And curtsied up and down. She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head, And whispered to her neighbour: "Winter is dead."

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Betty White and Johnny Carson as Adam and Eve 

• Maybelle Carter - It Takes A Worried Man

• Robert Merrill - In the Gloaming (1946)

• Michael Crichton on the Coming Computer Revolution

• Dwight Yoakam - Honky Tonk Man

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias

If you have an irrational fear of... Growing old
You're suffering from... Gerascophobia Greek Gerasco ‘old age’

If you have an irrational fear of... Hair
You're suffering from... Trichophobia Greek trikhos ‘hair’

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

• Number of refugees and internally displaced people in the world last year: 43,300,000

• Last year in which there were as many: 1994

Amazing Facts About The Human Body

Eye Muscles The focusing muscles of the eyes move around 100,000 times a day. To give your leg muscles the same workout, you would need to walk 80km (50 miles) every day.

Unusual Fact of the Day

In the Roman Empire, going blonde wasn’t exactly a fashion statement. At the time, light-colored hair was associated with the barbarian women of Gaul and Germany who often ended up as slaves in brothels. Consequently, Roman law required all prostitutes to dye their hair blonde in order to distinguish themselves from “proper,” dark-maned ladies.

Joke-of-the-day

Two small county judges both got arrested for speeding on the same day. Rather than call the state Supreme Court for a visiting judge, each agreed to hear the other's case.

The first judge took the bench while the second stood at the defendant's table, and admitted his guilt. The sentencing judge immediately suspended both the fine and costs.

They switched places. The second judge admitted that he was speeding, too. Thereupon the first judge immediately fined him $250 and ordered him to pay court costs.

The second judge was furious. "I suspended your fine and costs, but you threw the book at me!", he fumed. The first judge looked at him and replied, "This is the second such case we've had in here today. Someone has to get tough about all this speeding!"  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

LISTENING TO YOUR ENGINE KNOCK

If your engine knocks during acceleration, it's probably the connecting rod. If the engine knocks during deceleration, it's probably the piston wrist pin. If you have piston slap (too much room between the piston and cylinder wall), the knock will be loudest when the engine is cold and idling.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

A high ranking member of a once-powerful drug clan was assassinated during a children's party by a gunman dressed as a clown, authorities said Saturday.

Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, the oldest brother of the Arellano Felix cartel, was shot in the chest and the head at a rental house at the Cabo San Lucas resort on the Baja California peninsula, multiple outlets reported.

The killer's disguise included a wig and a round, red nose, officials told The Associated Press. A motive for the killing was not immediately clear.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Tired of the cold weather? Take a vacation on the hottest planet in the solar system – Venus. At over 800 degrees, it is hotter than Mercury because the clouds and abundant carbon dioxide hold in most of the heat received from the sun.

• Ever notice on a map how the South American and African coasts, along the Atlantic, fit together like two pieces of a giant puzzle? That is because at one time, millions of years ago, they were one continent. Magma from deep in the Earth broke through thin places between these continents and pushed them apart. They are still slowly moving apart and the Atlantic ocean is growing wider.

• The lead in pencils, really graphite, is made of the exact same thing as diamonds. Both are pure carbon which just formed under different pressures and temperatures. Intense heat and pressure form the carbon atoms into crystals making diamond, while lesser heat and pressure form the carbon into sheets making graphite.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

17-24

Food & Drug Interactions and Awareness Week
20-26

Freedom of Speech Week
Medical Assistants Recognition Week  
National Character Counts Week
National Chemistry Week
National Forest Products Week
National Friends of Libraries Week 
National Hospital and Health-System Pharmacy Week  
National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week 
National Massage Therapy Week
National Respiratory Care Week
National Save For Retirement Week
Pastoral Care Week
Red Ribbon Week 
Ally Week
Kids Care Week
21-25

National School Bus Safety Week 
National Nuclear Science Week
Disarmament Week
Peace, Friendship and Good Will Week
Prescription Errors Education & Awareness Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        IPod Day

·        Medical Assistants Recognition Day

·        Mother-in-Law Day

·        National Mole Day

·        Swallows Depart from San Juan Capistrano Day

·        TV Talk Show Host Day

~~~~

·        Cambodia: Peace Treaty Day (1991 ending 21yrs of war)

Today’s Events through History  

1st national horseshoe throwing championship (Kellerton, Iowa)…1915

8th NYC Marathon won by Bill Rodgers in 2:11:38…1977

Clarence Thomas, sworn in as Supreme Court Justice…1991

Dutch Schultz and others fatally shot in New Jersey The Chophouse Massacre…1935

1st video recording on magnetic tape televised coast-to-coast…1956

Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park," premieres in NYC…1963

US national debt hits $1 trillion…1981

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Pelé [Edson Arantes do Nascimento], Brazilian footballer (Player of the Century) is 73

Ang Lee, Taiwanese-born director (The Wedding Banquet, Brokeback Mountain) is 59

Dwight Yoakam, Pikeville Ky, country singer (Honky Tonk Man) is 57

Weird Al Yankovic [Alfred Matthew], California, parody singer is 54
)

Doug Flutie, quarterback is 51

Ryan Reynolds, Canadian film and TV actor is 37

Remembered for being born today

Isabella of Portugal, queen of Spain and empress of Germany [1503-1539]

Samuel Morey, American inventor [1762-1843]

Adlai Stevenson, (D) 23rd VP [1835-1914]

Gummo Marx, American actor [1892(?)-1977]

Johnny Carson, comedian (Tonight Show, Who Do You Trust) [1925-2005]

Michael Crichton, novelist (Andromeda Strain, Congo, Looker) [1942-2008]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Robert Merrill, American baritone…2004…@87

Maybelle Carter, country singer (Johnny Cash Show)…long illness…1978…@69

Zane Grey, US western writer (Spirit of the Border)…heart failure…1939…@67

Al Jolson, [Asa Yoelson], singer/actor (Jazz Singer)…heart attack…1950…@64

Christian Dior, French designer (New Look)…heart attack…1957…@52

Dutch Schultz [Arthur Flegenheimer], US gangster…murdered…1935…@33

Brain Teasers

A daffodil

The poem is exactly how A.A. Milne wrote it for his son Christopher Robin, and his collections of verse and stories of Winnie-the Pooh have been favourites of children all over the world. 

"When We Were Very Young" was first published on November 6th, 1924.

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  §