10/25/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 43/ Day: 298   

Today: L 34°…H 64°… Ave. humidity: 46%

Wind: ave:   5; Gusts:  28mph  

Average Low: 28° Record Low:  11° (1975)

Average High: 59° Record High:  78° (1959)

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

"Little Orphan Annie" comic strip 1st published…1924

110th member of UN admitted (Uganda)…1962

1st electronic wrist watch placed on sale, NYC…1960

American author John Steinbeck awarded Nobel Prize in literature…1962

Benito Mussolini promises to remain dictator for 30 years…1932

Burma railroad completed & opens…1943

Denver Nuggets 1st game at McNichols Sports Arena beat St Louis Spirits…1975

Fidel Castro, announces that transactions using the American Dollar will be 

     banned by 11/8…2004

Hepatitis virus is discovered…1984

International Red Cross ousted from South Africa…1986

Postcards 1st used in US…1870

Roy Disney dedicates Walt Disney World…1971

Senate committee publishes 1st report on Teapot Dome scandal…1923

Tappan sells 1st microwave oven…1955

Windows XP first became available…2001

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Cloudy…with a little sun.

 

This is ‘prescribed burn’ season, meaning the forest service picks area that have lots of underbush and burn it, so that hopefully there won’t be any big forest fires in the future. For the past few days the conditions have been ready for ‘prescribed burns’, high enough humidity, dry conditions on the ground and low wind. Today’s fire on the far west side of town was huge with a huge column of smoke rising over the western sky. We could smell the smoke a little on this side of town, though there wasn’t any smoke visible over here. Mixed with this was the less than aromatic Purina plant making cat and dog food that is only about a mile from where I live. Sadly the great city government seems to have no problem with Purina smell. As I was growing up, my dad was an accountant at the stock yards. Whenever we went to our dad’s office, the smell was pretty overwhelming, but my dad always said you get used to it and it helps pay the bills. The Purina smell only comes on certain days, so thankfully it’s hard to get used to. Our great city government says it pays the bills. The last time Flag had an odor problem it was a paper mill. The government made them get rid of the odor, but also drove them out of business with all their requirements to keep the smell away. So a few times a month we are greeted with the Purina aroma and only a couple of times a year is it mixed with the smell of a burn.

 

Got my meds and my flu shot today. Good conversation with the head pharmacist about why I was leaving. She said things would be good in about 3 to 4 months. She believes it is corporate problem of paying very low wages to the techs who don’t make a living wage for our expensive town. Whatever it is, I’m done. I’ll see how Walgreens does when I need to renew.

 

We all had a great Chinese lunch today. Good conversation, good food, nice. Mary helped run a water/food station at a 100 mile endurance run along the AZ trail to the Grand Canyon. 17 solo runners completed the race, and many more relay teams. The runners ran all night, with a full moon. Not for me, but she said the runners were pretty psyched. Cheryl has been busy at her house in Williams.

 

CNN is running a film called Blackfish tonight that is about Orcas held in captivity.  I am really conflicted about places like Sea World and also the circus. As a child I attended my fair share of circuses. I saw many animals I have never seen before. As a teacher and administrator I took lots of kids to Sea World to see the shows.  I have been fortunate enough to see many of the circus animals in the wild, in Africa. Not everyone gets those experiences. Many of the animals we see here in the US are not treated well, are not doing things they would ever do in the wild, and sadly, many are tortured in various ways. There must be a way to insure that people can see these animals without torturing them. Until then, I won’t be visiting any circus or Sea World type entertainment venue.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

I beam, I shine, I sparkle white I'll brighten the gloom with my light I'll mystify and enchant all I'll bring out the best in you all
Goofy, bucked, green or gold Young and charming, wise and old Sly, cunning, empty sometimes Mirthful, uplifting, within the lines
A fleeting glimpse or prolonged show I'm sometimes sad, sometimes mean Sometimes I'll say more than you know Or betray what you think you've seen
Now, if you know me, tell me so You have me too, you know!

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Top Twenty Pablo Picasso Paintings

• Minnie Pearl Comedy Time

• Roger Miller King Of the Road

• Mr. Waverly (Man from UNCLE)

• Katy Perry - Roar (Official)

• Helen Reddy - 'I Am Woman' (Live)

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias

If you have an irrational fear of... Heaven
You're suffering from... Uranophobia Greek uranos 'heaven' 

If you have an irrational fear of... Heights
You're suffering from... Acrophobia Greek akron ‘summit’

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

• Percentage of all luxury-goods consumers in 1995 who were Chinese: 2

• Who are today: 25

Amazing Facts About The Human Body

Blood Cell-- A single human blood cell takes only 60 seconds to make a complete circuit of the body.

Unusual Fact of the Day

Don't let the name fool you: Joyce Hall, who made millions developing the Hallmark brand name, was a man.

Joke-of-the-day

An elderly woman decided to have her portrait painted. She told the artist” Paint me with diamond earrings, a diamond necklace, emerald bracelets, a ruby broach, and gold Rolex."

"But you are not wearing any of those things" replied the artist.

"I know," she said. "It's in case I should die before my husband. I'm sure he will remarry right away, and I want his new wife to go crazy looking for the jewelry."

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

STORING BEER

You lose one day of shelf life for every degree you let your beer get above 20 degrees Centigrade.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

Which country alleged 14 squirrels for spying, claiming that they were serving as spies for Western powers determined to undermine the Islamic Republic? 

The answer is Iran. ”The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services”, state-sponsored news agency IRNA reported.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The new bill was originally due to reach banks in 2011. But three years ago the Federal Reserve announced that a problem with the currency's new security measures was causing the bills to crease during printing, which left blank spaces on the bills.

• The bill is more expensive to print than the last version - 12.6 cents per bill vs. 7.8 cents for the older style - but it's designed to be harder to counterfeit and easier to authenticate.

• The hundred note still features Ben Franklin on the front and Independence Hall on the back, along with more colorful illustrations and hidden text and pictograms that reveal themselves only under certain conditions.

• It includes two new features to thwart counterfeiters: (1) a '3-D' blue ribbon woven into the paper that, when tilted, shows 100s moving side-to-side or up-and-down; and (2) a camouflaged bell, seen within the copper inkwell, that turns green when the bill is tilted.

• For the first time, the engraving process includes the effect of 'raised printing.' 

• The Federal Reserve is overseeing the introduction of the new bill and targeting much of its messaging to foreign countries. 

Calendar Information        

Happening This 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
24-11/11

World Origami Days
25-31

International Magic Week
Give Wildlife a Brake! Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        Chucky, The Notorious Killer Doll Day

·        International Artists Day

·        International Bandanna Day

·        National Breadstix (Bread Sticks) Day

·        National Pharmacy Buyer Day

·        Sourest Day celebrations of lemons, grapefruits, sour candies, …

·        World Pasta Day

~~~~

·        Taiwan: Retrocession Day (1945 Japan returns it to China)

Today’s Events through History  

Allison Roe (2:25:29) & Alberto Salazar (2:08:13) win NYC marathon…1981

Christopher Columbus' ship Santa Maria lands at Dominican Republic…1492

Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in Cuba and Haiti…2012

Sukarno appointed president of Republic Indonesia…1950

Toronto Stock Exchange created…1861

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Marion Ross, actress (Marion-Happy Days, Bkln Bridge) is 85

Bobby Knight, college basketball coach (Indiana, Olympic-gold-1984) is 73

Helen Reddy, Melbourne Australia, rock vocalist (I Am Woman) is 72

James Carville, political strategist and commentator is 69

Dan Issel, NBA coach/player (27,482 points, Denver Nuggets) is 65

Tracy Nelson, actress (Glitter, Square Pegs, Father Dowling) is 50

Katy Perry [Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson], pop singer (I Kissed A Girl, Waking Up 

     In Vegas) is 29

Remembered for being born today

James Beattie, Scotland, poet/philosopher (Essay on Truth) [1735-1803]

Georges Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold Bizet, France, composer (Carmen) [1838-1875]

Johann Baptist Strauss, (the younger), Austria, composer (Waltz King) [1825-1899]

Richard E Byrd, Virginia, admiral/polar explorer [1888-1957]

Leo G. Carroll, English actor [1892-1972]

Pablo Picasso, Malaga Spain, artist (3 Dancers, Guernica) [1881-1973]

Klaus Barbie, gestapo chief (Lyon) [1913-1991]

Minnie Pearl, [Sarah Ophelia Colley], (Grand Old Opry, Hee-Haw) [1912-1996]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Vincent Price, actor (Raven, Fly)…1993….@82

Bobby Riggs, tennis star…prostate cancer…1995…@77

Peter Jensen, co-inventer (loud speaker)…1961…@75

Norman Norell [Levinson], US fashion designer…1972…@72

Forrest Tucker, actor (O'Rourke-F Troop, Dusty Trail)…cancer…@67

Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison, 1st lady (1889-1892)…TB…1892…@60

Geofrey Chaucer, author (Canterbury Tales)…unknown causes…1400…@57ish

Roger Miller, country singer (King of the Road)…cancer…1992…@56

Umberto "Albert" Anastasia, US gangster (Murder Inc)…killed…1957…@55

Brain Teasers

A smile.

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  §