11-28-14

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Almanac: Week: 48 \ Day: 332 
November Averages: 51° \ 22°



Holiday Observances Today:
Independence Day (Albania-1912-after 500+ yrs -from Ottoman)
Independence Day (Ka Lahui: Hawaii-Kingdom recognized-1843)
Independence Day (Mauritania-1960-from France)
Independence Day (Panama-1821-from Spain)
Republic Day (Chad)
¤ ¤
Black Friday
Buy Nothing Day
Flossing Day
Fur Free Friday
Maize Day
Make Your Own Head Day
National Day of Listening
National Native American Heritage Day
Red Planet Day
Sinkie Day –eating leftovers over the sink so there are no dishes
You're Welcome Day

Observances This Week:
24-30
GERD Awareness Week; National Bible Week; National Game & Puzzle Week; Better Conversation Week; Church/State Separation Week; National Family Week
• • • •
Quote of the Day



Historical Highlights for Today
1520 - Ferdinand Magellan begins crossing Pacific Ocean
1775 - 2nd Continental Congress formally establishes US Navy
1814 - The Times of London is for the 1st time printed by automatic, steam powered presses 
1853 - Olympia forms as capital of Washington Territory
1854 - Dutch army stops Chinese uprising in Borneo
1905 - Arthur Griffith forms Sinn Fein in Dublin
1916 - 1st German air attack on London
1919 - US-born Lady Astor elected 1st female member of British House of Commons
1929 - Adm Richard E Byrd makes 1st South Pole flight
1932 - Groucho Marx performed on radio for 1st time
1948 - "Hopalong Cassidy" premieres on TV
1960 - CBS radio expands hourly news coverage from 5 to 10 minutes
1981 - Bear Bryant wins his 315th game - college football's winningest coach
1988 - Picasso's "Acrobat & Harlequin" sells for $38.46 million
• • • •
  Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today


My Rambling Thoughts
What a great Thanksgiving Day. Got a message from my sister-in-law at 6:15, wishing me a happy Thanksgiving from Mexico. Then about 11a I got a call from my brother and sister-in-law to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving. They were traveling out of Mexico City to see a concert by their flutist friend, Claire, who was scheduled to do the concert in Mexico City, but due to the demonstrations, the venue was moved to a town about 50 miles away. Claire and ICE, the musicians she travels with, are fantastic. She will also be with us for Christmas. They are coming back to NYC on the 1st.
I prepared my turkey breast, dressing with mushrooms, apples, and onions, salad, cranberry sauce, etc. Turns out it was much easier than I expected…and very tasty and moist. The package said 2 to 2-1/2 hours, but it took 3-1/4 hrs to get to 165°, but that was OK too.
I did clean the bathroom and laundry room but didn’t get around to the other bathrooms or to putting up the tree.  Guess that will happen tomorrow.
Our special edition paper came last night. There was a note in yesterday’s paper that the paper would be selling for $4, instead of the normal seventy-five cents…and that this would shorten any subscriptions by a couple of days for the paper. Not a happy camper about that. Actually, they had a special section on the Iconic 50 things of Flagstaff, which I’m sharing for those of you not lucky enough to live in this town. So the $4 cost was not as bad as expected. Then of course there were many, many ads for today and tomorrow. I’m certainly not shopping today as this is a time for workers to be with their families. I doubt I will be going out very early tomorrow either. May make a quick trip to a couple of stores to pick up a couple of specials, but by the time I go, they will probably be gone.
• • • •
Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
TRANCE, STAIN, CHIME, TUBA and PERK. These words all belong to the same logical family. Which of the following words also belongs to that family?
GERMANE, EMBARGO, BANANA and NIGHTMARE

           
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today



           
OK Then…


• • • •
Paraphernalia 4 the Brain:     
Actor Facts…
¤ The Rock accidentally knocked out Michael Clarke Duncan while filming a fight scene for The Scorpion King and had a custom Rolex made as an apology gift, but liked the watch so much that he kept it for himself.
¤ During World War 1, Harry Houdini took 1 year off performing to help sell war bonds and teach American soldiers how to escape from German handcuffs.

Flagstaff, AZ History…
50 YEARS AGO
The William's Civil Defense Committee is considering the old Johnson Canyon railroad tunnel as an air raid shelter. It was built in 1882 is about 400' long and is steel-lined. When the Santa Fe line was doubled in 1910 it became the eastbound track only, then in 1960, when the lines were realigned, it was abandoned. Jack Munns, Civil Defense Director.
           
**NEW**Flagstaff’s Iconic 50…
Historic Flagpole
Historians generally agree that Flagstaff derives its name from a flag-raising ceremony held July 4, 1876, by a group of settlers from New England who were camped within sight of this historic monument.
In February and May of 1876, two groups of settlers left Boston and traveled westward, intent upon establishing a colony in the valley of the Colorado Chiquito (Little Colorado River) near present-day Winslow. Known as the first and second Boston parties, these colonist had been lured by second-hand tales of the fertile farm lands, healthful climate, and vast mineral resources of northern Arizona. Upon arriving at the Little Colorado River, the first Boston party found the area already occupied by Mormon settlers from Utah. Disappointed by the presence of the Mormons and disillusioned by the lack of farming land, the scarcity of water, and the harsh climate, the settlers continued westward toward the San Francisco Peaks and Prescott.
By early July, the second Boston party had reached present-day Flagstaff and was camped near this monument, an area then known as the McMillan Ranch. In observance of the nation's Centennial, the settlers cut down a tall pine tree, trimmed off its branches, attached a flag, and raised the flagstaff. On the morning of July 4, 1876, an appropriate patriotic ceremony was held.
The flag carried by the second Boston party was packed in anticipation of the need to celebrate the nation's Centennial somewhere in the frontier wilderness. The United States flag in 1876 had thirty-seven stars laid out in rows numbering 8-7-7-7-8. Before the standardization that came with mass production, American flags varied greatly in size, fabric, color shades, and in the arrangement of the stars.
An historic marker is located at 35° 12.473′ N, 111° 39.248′ W in Flagstaff, Arizona, in Coconino County. Marker is on North Thorpe Road, on the left when traveling west. 

Harper’s Index…
Number of inmates in Quebec prisons and jails who have escaped by helicopter in the past 15 months: 5     
Pilgrim Fact…
Thanksgiving Pies
Today, our Thanksgiving revolves around the giant bird, but wild turkeys weighed only around eight pounds (definitely not enough for company). Therefore, seafood and other meats were significant parts of the meal, as were a wide range of pies. Though Thanksgiving now ends on a sweet note with apple, sweet potato, or pumpkin pies, in Pilgrim times, both savory and sweet pies were baked for the meal as a way to preserve fruits and meat. The pies were left outside in the cold and then brought in and reheated when guests came over.
Utensils
Today we take forks for granted, but the Pilgrims didn’t use them. They used a knife, spoon, large napkin, and their fingers to eat their meals. They shared both plates and drinking vessels, which unfortunately contributed to the spread of disease.

Rules of Thumb…
PLANNING YOUR TRAINING
Never increase your training by more than 10 percent a week. Increases of 10 to 15 percent every three weeks make more sense.     

Unusual Fact of the Day…
Pentheraphobia is the persistent fear of your mother-in-law.
• • • •
Joke-of-the-day
Bob, a 70-year-old, extremely wealthy widower, shows up at the Country Club with a breathtakingly beautiful and very sexy 25-year-old blonde-haired woman who knocks everyone's socks off with her youthful sex appeal and charm and who hangs over Bob's arm and listens intently to his every word. His buddies at the club are all aghast. At the very first chance, they corner him and ask, 'Bob, how'd you get the 
trophy girlfriend?'

Bob replies, 'Girlfriend? She's my wife!'
They are knocked over, but continue to ask. 'So, how'd you persuade her to marry you?'
'I lied about my age', Bob replies.
'What, did you tell her you were only 50?'
Bob smiles and says, 'No, I told her I was 90.'
           

Yep, It Really Happened
SHANDONG, China (UPI) - Brave fathers-to-be are getting shocking lessons at a pioneering Chinese hospital in what it feels like for women to give birth. A nurse in the free lesson at Hangzhou Aima maternity hospital in China's Shandong province sends an electric current to a pad placed above the abdomen. Over five minutes, the strength of the current is increased, causing men to "writhe in agony," according to witnesses. One man compared the pain to feeling as if his "heart and lungs were being ripped out."
Organizers hope the experience will make men more sensitive to their partners while they labor. It's an unusual exercise in a nation where men often don't attend the birth of their children. Hospital administrators emphasis that there's no lasting damage to men, and also note that there's no real comparison between the "pain experience camp" and women's suffering during the much longer-lasting agony of childbirth. Some men couldn't hack it and bailed out mid-shock. "I thought giving birth to a baby was something natural, something really normal that women could get through," one nearly-dad told the BBC. "After this I realized it's not easy giving birth. It's just painful."     

Somewhat Useless Information
How many writers of the Simpsons went to Harvard?
“The Simpsons” is widely known as it is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening, whose series is a satirical depiction of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by the Simpson family set in the fictional town of Springfield.
The main characters are Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.
What you may have ignored so far is that 24 writers of the Simpsons have attended Harvard University. They are:
Al Jean
Dan McGrath
John Collier
Greg Daniels
Patric Verrone
Bill Canterbury
David X. Cohen
Jon Vitti
Richard Appel
Bill Oakley
David Sacks
Ken Keeler
Steve Tompkins
Conan O’Brien (Also president of the Harvard Lampoon)
George Meyer
Max Pross
Steve Young
Dan Greaney
Jeff Martin
Mike Reiss
Tom Gammill
Nell Scovell
Daniel Chun
Matt Warburton
• • • •
Today’s Events through History
1717 - Blackbeard attacks a French merchant vessel called "La Concorde", which he would capture and rename as the "Queen Anne's Revenge"
1729
 - Natchez Indians massacre 138 Frenchmen, 35 French women, and 56 children at Fort Rosalie, near the site of modern-day Natchez, Mississippi

1893 - Women vote in a national election for the 1st time: New Zealand general election
1951 - Military coup under Col Adib el-Shishakli in Syria
1975 - Bobby Orr plays his last game for the Boston Bruins
1990 - Margaret Thatcher resigns as Britain's PM
Birthday’s Today
Berry Gordy, record company owner (Motown) is 86
Gary Hart, (Sen-CO) is 79
Randy Newman, vocalist (Short People) is 72
Ed Harris, actor (Right Stuff) is 65
S Epatha Merkerson, actress (stage, screen, and TV) is 63
Jon Stewart (Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz) political satirist is 53
apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda Lindo), Filipino-American rapper (Black Eyed Peas) is 41

Remembered for being born today
Margaret Tudor, wife of James IV of Scotland (1489-1541)
William Blake, London, poet/painter, (1757-1827)
Henry Bacon, American architect (Lincoln Memorial) (1866-1924)
Gloria Grahame, American actress (1923-1981)
Hope Lange, actress (Ghost & Mrs Muir) (1933-2003)
Anna Nicole "Vickie" Smith, playmate\media fav (1967-2007)
• • • •
Historical Obits Today
Garry Moore, TV host (I've Got A Secret), emphysema, 1993, @78
James Naismith, creator of basketball, stroke, 1939, @78
Washington Irving, American author (Sleepy Hollow), heart attack , 1859, @76
Choh Hao Li, bio-chemist prof (isolated growth hormones), 1987, @74
Enrico Fermi, Italian/US nuclear physicist (Nobel 1938), cancer 1954, @53
Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer, killed in prison, 1994, @34

• • • •

Brain Teasers Answers
GERMANE. In the logical family of words, you can change one letter in each word and create a country`s name. FRANCE, SPAIN, CHILE, CUBA and PERU. Germane can be changed into GERMANY.
• • • •
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 contains mistakes and sadly once 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…§


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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.