1-17-14

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 02 / Day:  017 

Today: L 17°…H 50°… Ave. humidity: 43%

Wind: ave:   12mph; Gusts:  25mph  

Average Low: 17° Record Low:  -13° (1987)

Average High: 43° Record High:  62° (1971)

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

1718 - Avalanche destroys every building in Leukerbad, Switz; kills 53

1871 - 1st cable car patented

1873 - Modoc warriors defeat the US Army in the First Battle of the Stronghold

1899 - US takes possession of Wake Island in Pacific

1904 - Anton Chekhov's "Cherry Orchard" opens at Moscow Art Theater

1916 - Professional Golfer Association (PGA) forms in NYC

1929 - Popeye makes 1st appearance, in comic strip "Thimble Theater"

1954 - Jacques Cousteau's 1st network telecast airs on "Omnibus" (CBS)

1961 - President Eisenhower delivers the "military-industrial complex" speech

1987 - US President Reagan signs secret order permitting covert sale of arms to Iran

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Another nice day, but now we are headed for a record dry spell…again. It’s been almost a month with no measurable precipitation. The only thing keeping the small ski area open is the artificial snow made with ‘reclaimed’ water…the only place in the country using such water. When the same water is used to keep the golf courses green, there are signs all around that say the water is not potable and to stay off the grass. Yet when the water is frozen and turned into snow, the city believes that makes it OK and no signage is needed…hmmm.

 

While Mary is busy in NYC, attending shows and shopping and eating out, Cheryl and I went to see August: Osage County. Both Meryl and Julia were outstanding. After seeing the previews, I did not expect quite such a dark movie. It was well worth seeing and would recommend it to many, just be prepared for a lot of dark plot lines. Then we went to lunch at Olive Garden for a great lunch of soup, salad and breadsticks. I was a little taken aback when the CC receipt listed exact amounts of tips depending on service. I could still put my own tip in and do not a restaurant to help me with percentages. And who leaves pennies on a credit card tip? The suggested tips were $1.01, $1.16, and $2.03. Sad state of business.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

You may find fire within me Though to water I've been compared. You may also find a twinkle When through my pane you stare. * When of wind I am the calm The center holding still. When of you, a different part My bottom lid, my sill. * You may look into me only to see through. You may indeed look out of me Through my frame of varied hue. * The riddle in three parts as letters in my name. The riddle shows you who I am But tell me just the same. * Who am I?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Andy Kaufman; The Best Of

• Betty White discusses the finale of the Mary Tyler Moore Show

• Earta Kitt - C'est Si Bon

• Eisenhower's Military-Industrial Complex Speech

• Lumumba - Independance Day speech

• Shari Lewis Interview

• Sheree North Tiger Dance

Actual Complaints… These are actual complaints received from dissatisfied customers by Thomas Cook Vacations (based on a Thomas Cook/ABTA survey):

"We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow."

Suggested New State Mottos:

California: By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda

Something to Ponder in your free time…

• Why is bra singular and panties plural?
• Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead?

Auction Prices

A giant Elephant Bird egg.

A massive, partly fossilized egg laid by a now-extinct elephant bird has sold for more than $100,000. Measuring in at one foot long and nearly nine inches in diameter, the giant ovum only took 10 minutes of competitive bidding to sell.

OK Then…

 

Harper’s Index 

• Percentage of all cases of measles in the United States that occurred on college campuses in 1980: 1.5

• In 1983: 19.8

Unusual Fact of the Day

The nutrition info on Swedish Chef's Cröonchy Stars says the cereal contains no shoe trees, venetian blinds, or pachyderms.

Joke-of-the-day

A Taliban was sitting in a cave when he hears over a dune the voice of one American solider: "One American solider is better than 10 Taliban fighters" so the Taliban angry sent over ten of his high-ranking soldiers. After a lot of gun fire and yelling and screams of agony the Taliban heard the voice again. "One American solider is better than 100 Taliban fighters" So the Taliban sends over 100 of his highest ranked soldiers sure of victory. After a lot of gun fire and yelling and screams of agony the Taliban heard the voice again. "One American solider is better than 1000 Taliban fighters" So the Taliban sent his toughest, meanest, personal guards over the dune. After hundreds of bullets fired, and explosions and the screaming and crying, it was over. The Taliban now wondering what happened goes over the dune where he finds a wounded Taliban solider who says "don't send anymore men it's really a trap there is really two of them!"  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

BOOK PUBLISHING

If you ask a publisher if a new book is selling well, and she replies, "It's too soon to tell," - it isn't - and it isn't.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. - The parents of a Florida middle school student said a school councilor shaved their son's head to get rid of his Miami Heat-inspired haircut. The family of Danny Valdes, 11, said stepfather Arnaldo Fernandez, owner of Cutting Edge Barbershop, gave Danny a haircut in honor of attending his first Miami Heat game at the end of December and the style included the team's logo, area code and skyline being cut into his hair, WZVN-TV, Naples, reported Monday. However, teachers at Harns Marsh Middle School in Lehigh Acres dubbed the hairstyle to be a distraction and gang related when he returned from winter break Wednesday and he was sent to in-school suspension. Arnaldo said the school's assistant principal called him about the issue. "I told her when he gets home from school I'll cut his hair and I'll make it toward their regulations," Arnaldo said. However, a school councilor performed the haircut with a pair of clippers, saying Arnaldo had given permission. "It's frustrating because to me it seems like they think they got the power to do whatever they want," Arnaldo said. Arnaldo and Stephanie Fernandez, the boy's mother, said they were upset by the school's actions. "I was just really upset because I didn't think their proper protocol was to cut his hair," she said. School officials said the councilor has been advised not to perform any more haircuts. Fernandez said she is moving Danny to a different school.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• About two-thirds of shark attacks on humans have taken place in water less than six feet deep. Most shark attacks occur less than 100 feet from the shore. Shark attacks happen all over the world, but mainly around popular beaches in North America (especially Florida and Hawaii), Australia, and South Africa.

• For every human killed by a shark, humans kill two million sharks.

• Approximately 100 million sharks are killed every year. Shark teeth are used to make necklaces; cartilage is used to make fertilizers; skin is used to make leather; liver is used to make face cream, sap, and fuel; and fins are used to make soup. The mass killing of sharks creates a negative, cascading effect in the global environment.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

11-17

Cuckoo Dancing Week
13-19

National Vocation Awareness Week  
National Soccer Coaches of America Week
16-26

Sundance Film Festival
17-23

National Fresh Squeezed Juice Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        Cable Car Day

·        Hot Heads Chili Days

·        International Fetish Day

·        Kid Inventors' Day

^^^^^^

·        Liberation Day (Poland- liberates Auschwitz 1945)

Today’s Events through History  

1852 - British recognize independence of Transvaal (in South Africa)

1905 - Punchboards patented by Charles Brewer & C G Scannell, Chicago

1946 - United Nations Security Council holds its 1st meeting

1950 - The Great Brinks Robbery $1.2M cash & $1.5M securities in Boston

1961 - Eisenhower allegedly orders assassination of Congo's Lumumba

1976 - "I Write the Songs" by Barry Manilow hits #1

1990 - Kinks inducted into Cleveland's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Betty White, actress (Mary Tyler Moore Show, Golden Girls) is 92

James Earl Jones, Miss, actor (Darth Vader, Exorcist II, Soul Man) is 83

Maury Povich, TV host (Current Affair, Maury)/Mr Connie Chung is 75

Muhammad Ali [Cassius Clay], heavyweight boxing champion is 72

David Caruso, actor (NYPD Blue, Michael Hayes) is 59

Steve Harvey, American actor, comedian and radio personality is 57

Jim Carrey, Ontario, actor (Living Color, Dumb & Dumber, Mask) is 52

Zooey Deschanel, actress (Almost Famous) is 34

Remembered for being born today

1706 - Benjamin Franklin, Boston, kite flyer/statesman/wit/inventor

1820 - Anne Bronte, English novelist/poet (Tenant of Wildfell Hall)

1899 - Al Capone, Brooklyn, American gangster (Chicago bootlegging)

1928 - Vidal Sassoon, London, hair stylist/CEO (Vidal Sasson)

1949 - Andy Kaufman, NYC, comedian/actor (Latka Gravas-Taxi)

1927 - Eartha Kitt, singer/actress (Catwoman-Batman)

1932 - Sheree North, [Dawn Bethel], LA, actress (Mary Tyler Moore Show)

1933 - Shari Lewis, Bronx, ventriloquist/puppeteer (Lamb Chop)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Virginia Mayo, American actress, 2005 @84

Art Buchwald, American humorist, 2007 @81

Zhao Ziyang, Premier of the People's Republic of China 2005 @81

Richard Crenna, American actor, cancer 2003 @76

Rutherford B Hayes, 19th US Pres, heart attack 1893 @70

Bobby Fischer, American chess player, renal failure 2008 @64

Chang & Eng Bunker, Chinese/Thai Siamese twins, pneumonia 1874 @62

Patrice Lumumba, Colngo revolutionary, assassinated 1961 @36

Brain Teasers

An eye.

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  §