12-9-14

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Almanac: Week: 50 \ Day: 343 
December Averages: 44°\17°
86004 Today: H 48°\L 25°
Ave. humidity: 72%     Average Sky Cover: 80%
Wind ave:   7mph\Gusts:  17mph
Ave. High: 44° Record High:  62° (1977)
Ave. Low: 17° Record Low:  -8° (1951)

Holiday Observances Today:
Independence Day (Tanzania-1961-from UK)
Republic Day (Tanzania-1962)

¤ ¤
Christmas Card Day
International Anti-corruption Day
National Pastry Day
National Salesperson's Day
Weary Willie Day-Emmett Kelly’s birthday-1898
Observances This Week:
3-9
Clerc-Gallaudet Week
7-13
National Hand Washing Awareness Week
Recipe Greetings For The Holidays Week
Computer Science Education Week

• • • • • • •
Quote of the Day
 


Historical Highlights for Today
1778 - Virginia annexes Indian land
1793 - Noah Webster establishes NY's 1st daily newspaper, American Minerva
1851 - 1st Young Men's Christian Association in North America (Montreal)
1854 - Alfred Tennyson's poem "Charge of the Light Brigade" published
1878 - Joseph Pulitzer buys St Louis Dispatch for $2,500
1897 - Activist Marguerite Durand founds 1st feminist daily newspaper, La Fronde in Paris.
1903 - Norwegian parliament votes unanimiously for female suffrage
1905 - French Assembly National votes for separation of church & state
1907 - 1st Christmas Seals sold (Wilmington Del post office)
1953 - General Electric announces all Communist employees will be fired
1960 - 1st broadcast of "Coronation Street" on British ITV
1968 - NLS (a system for which hypertext and the computer mouse were developed) 1st publicly demonstrated
1973 - Sunningdale Agreement in Northern Ireland
1975 - US President Gerald Ford signs $2.3 Bn loan-authorization for NYC
1985 - Phoenix Arizona, gets 3" of snow
1990 - Lech Walesa wins presidental election in Poland
1994 - Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders resigns - comments about masturbation
2008 - Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, arrested by feds for alleged crimes
2013 - Mike Ditka's #89 jersey is retired by the Chicago Bears
• • • • • • •
  Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today
 


My Rambling Thoughts
Cloudy, cool day withlots of fog this morning so it became laundry day. All done, all put away. Nice.
Last night I tried to access my e-mail with the Windows icon that opens all my email.  It’s kinda like Outlook, but different. Anyway, just had the screen pop up then close. No biggie, but when I got up this morning, still not working. Called the IT guys who now work on my computer remotely. He had to delete the program/app and reinstall it, which meant that I had to set up the 5 email address again. He stayed on line while I set up the first one. Good thing, cause it still didn’t work, this time claiming I was using the wrong password, which I wasn’t. After another remote restart, so more fiddling, it all works fine. So glad I found this group, and I will be purchasing another two years of service. Well worth it. It reminds me of my dad when he fixed the family cars. Then when everything started going to computers he quit doing it, claiming he was getting too old. Well I used to enjoy fiddling with computers when something was wrong, but they have become so complicated to fix, while being so much easier to use, I too am just going to say ‘I’m getting too old’ and will gladly pay someone to repair it remotely.  And I’m fine with that.
The other problems I had yesterday with the blog seemed to have fixed themselves with a restart this morning.
I got a lot done today and did not hit the Netflix button, which makes it much harder to do lots of stuff.
• • • • • • •
Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
A word I know, 
six letters it contains
subtract just one,
and twelve is what remains.

           
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today




     
OK Then…


• • • • • • •
Paraphernalia 4 the Brain:     
December Holiday Facts
*Christmas-Christian
¤ The British wear paper crowns while they eat Christmas dinner. The crowns are stored in a tube called a “Christmas cracker.
¤ In Poland, spiders or spider webs are common Christmas trees decorations because according to legend, a spider wove a blanket for Baby Jesus. In fact, Polish people consider spiders to be symbols of goodness and prosperity at Christmas.
¤ In Ethiopia, the Coptic Christian nativity scene (crèche) has everything I was familiar with, although the Ethiopian King was a little larger than the other Kings and near the manger was a warthog.

*Hanukkah-Jewish
The Hanukkah Story
Nearly 2,200 years ago, the Greek-Syrian ruler Antiochus IV tried to force Greek culture upon peoples in his territory. Jews in Judea - now Israel- were forbidden their most important religious practices as well as study of the Torah. Although vastly outnumbered, religious Jews in the region took up arms to protect their community and their religion. Led by Mattathias the Hasmonean, and later his son Judah the Maccabee, the rebel armies became known as the Maccabees.
After three years of fighting, in the year 3597, or about 165 B.C.E., the Maccabees victoriously reclaimed the temple on Jerusalem's Mount Moriah. Next they prepared the temple for rededication -- in Hebrew, Hanukkah means "dedication." In the temple they found only enough purified oil to kindle the temple light for a single day. But miraculously, the light continued to burn for eight days.

*Kwanza-African-American
Principles
Kujichagulia (koo-jee-chah-GOO-lee-ah) or self-determination. To have a separate identity, and to let others know about it.

*12 Days of Christmas
Seven Swans A-swimming
The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: 1) prophecy, 2) ministry, 3) teaching, 4) exhortation, 5) giving, 6) leading, and 7) compassion (Romans 12:6-8; cf. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11)

Flagstaff, AZ History…
75 YEARS AGO
Frank Kunkle, Jack Anderson and Floyd George escaped with slight bruises when their car over turned on the Jerome Highway about 25 miles from Prescott. After righting the car further trouble ensued. It got loose, rolled and crashed about 16' into the bottom of the gully. The car was repaired except for the broken glass and they went on their way to Tempe to attend the annual grid battle.
           
Flagstaff’s Iconic 50…
Macy’s Coffee
Whether you are looking for a lively flagstaff restaurant that serves great food or a top-notch coffeehouse with the ultimate cup, Macy’s European Coffeehouse and Bakery is the place you want to land. Locally owned and operated, Macy’s has been capturing customers’ hearts and loyalties for thirty plus years.
Macy’s is one of Flagstaff’s few all-vegetarian restaurants. We strive to provide the best bite around. Our menu ranges from cage-free breakfast sandwiches to organic spinach salads; from a BLT made on homemade whole wheat to a mouth-watering burrito smothered in melted cheddar cheese and enchilada sauce.
Macy’s is also Flagstaff’s preferred watering hole. Local residents have voted Macy’s, “Best Coffeehouse” in the Arizona Daily Sun’s, Best of Flag contest, for three years running. We proudly announce we were also voted Flagstaff’s, “Best Vegetarian Restaurant” and “Best Coffee Roaster”, for 2011. At Macys we put love into every cup, every step of the way; from the farm to your lips.
To complete the trifecta of awesomeness, this Flagstaff restaurant also offers you a full service bakery. We open with an array of breakfast pastries like muffins and scones. We close with thoughts of pumpkin pies and special order birthday cakes. Macy’s also proudly offers many vegan, gluten-free featuring many options on gluten-free Wednesdays, and other special diet options that will leave your mouth watering.

Harper’s Index…
Amount of the fine and recently passed NY state law would impose for taking selfies with tigers: $500
           
Rules of Thumb…
RULES OF ROMANCE
You can have a hot job, a hot lover, or a hot apartment. But you can't have all three at the same time.  

Unusual Fact of the Day…
Norwegian cross country skier Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset attributed his disappointing silver medal in the 4×10-kilometer relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics to less-than-focused preparation. “I think I have seen too much porn in the last 14 days,” he said.
• • • • • • •
Joke-of-the-day
A motorist, after being bogged down in a muddy road, paid a passing farmer five dollars to pull him out with his tractor.
After he was back on dry ground he said to the farmer, "At those prices, I should think you would be pulling people out of the mud night and day."
"Can't", replied the farmer. "At night I haul water for the hole."      


Yep, It Really Happened
MELBOURNE (UPI)
An Australian man said he is aiming for a Guinness World Record by having every character from The Simpsons tattooed on his back. Michael Baxter, 60, a grandfather and prison warden from Barwon, said at the Australian Tattoo and Body Art exhibition in Melbourne he is hoping to obtain a Guinness record with the Simpsons collage inked on his back by Bacchus Marsh tattoo artist Jade Baxter-Smith. The full back tattoo includes 203 characters spanning the 20-year history of the animated series. Baxter said the record he is seeking is for "most tattoos of the same cartoon character tattooed on the body," but Guinness officials told him his tattoo would be eligible because all of the characters are from the same show. Baxter, whose other tattoos include scheming baby Stewie from fellow Fox cartoon Family Guy, said Guinness has accepted his application for the record, but he still has paperwork to submit. The record bid pits Baxter against fellow "Simpsons" super-fan Lee Weir of New Zealand, who obtained the Guinness record earlier this year with 41 tattoos of cartoon family patriarch Homer Simpson. Simpsons writer David Mirkin tweeted he was impressed with Baxter's tattoo. "Truly a lovely tribute. We will, of course, have to sue him and confiscate his back," Mirkin tweeted.
           
Somewhat Useless Information
¤ While performing her duties as queen, Cleopatra sometimes wore a fake beard.
¤ In her entire life, Queen Berengaria of England never once visited England.
¤ Queen Anne of England (1665-1714) had 17 children. They all died before her.
¤ King George I of England (1714-1727) was German. He couldn't speak a word of English.
¤ Queen Victoria's first act as queen: moving out of her mother's room.
¤ Napoleon Bonaparte, a Frenchman, designed the flag of Italy.      

• • • • • • •
Today’s Events through History
1909 - 1st US monoplane flown (Henry W Walden, Long Island, NY)
1941 - Hitler orders US ships torpedoed
2005 - "Brokeback Mountain", starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, released
• • • • • • •
Birthday’s Today
Kirk Douglas, [Issur Danielovitch], actor (Gunfight at OK Corral) is 98
Dick Van Patten, actor (Tom Bradford-8 is Enough) is 86
Buck Henry, screenwriter/comedian (SNL) is 84
Judi Dench, film, stage, TV actress is 80
Beau Bridges, actor, director is 73
Dick Butkus, NFL hall of fame linebacker (Bears)/sportscaster is 72
John Malkovich, actor/director (Killing Fields) is 61
Donny Osmond, singer (Donnie & Marie) is 57
Joe Lando, actor (Byron Sully-Dr Quinn) is 53
Felicity Huffman, film, stage, TV actress is 52
Jesse Metcalfe, TV actor is 36

Remembered for being born today
John Milton, London, poet/puritan (Paradise Lost), [1608-1674]
Joel Chandler Harris, US journalist (created Uncle Remus stories) [1845-1908]
Clarence Birdseye, frozen vegatable king (Birdseye) [1886-1956]
Hermione Gingold, London, actress (Gigi, Music Man) [1897-1987]
Emmett Kelly, circus clown (Weary Willie) [1898-1979]
Margaret Hamilton, actress (Wicked Witch-Wizard of Oz) [1902-1985]
Douglas Fairbanks Jr, actor (Ghost Story) [1909-2000]
Broderick Crawford, actor (Highway Patrol) [1911-1986]
Thomas P "Tip" O'Neill, (Rep- Mass)/Speaker of the House [1912-1994]
Redd Foxx (John Elroy Sanford), comedian (Sandford & Son) [1922-1991]
John Cassavetes, actor (Dirty Dozen, Rosemary's Baby) [1929-1989]
[David] Deacon Jones, NFL defensive end (LA, SD, Washington), [1938-2013]
• • • • • • •
Historical Obits Today
Louella Parsons, American gossip columnist, 1972, @91
Eleanor Parker, actress (Caged), 2013, @91
Gene Barry, actor (Burke’s Law), 2009, @90
Fulton J Sheen, archbishop/religious broadcaster, 1979 , @84
Mary Douglas Nicol Leakey, archaeologist/anthropologist, 1996, @83
Archie Moore, American boxer, 1998, @81
Ralph Bunche, UN delegate/Nobel Prize winner, long illness, 1971, @68
Marty Robbins, country singer, after cardiac surgery, 1982, @57
Jenni Rivera, Mexican-American singer-songwriter, plane crash, 2012, @43
• • • • • • •

Brain Teasers Answers
Dozens
• • • • • • •
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.