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Almanac: Week: 02 \ Day: 005
January
Averages: 43°\16°
86004 Today: H 52°\L 13°
Ave. humidity: 15% Average Sky Cover: 3%
Wind ave: 6mph\Gusts: 11mph
Ave. High: 42° Record
High: 61° (1948)
Ave. Low: 16° Record Low:
-22° (1910)
Observances
Today:
"Thank
God It's Monday" Day
Bird Day
Blue
Monday
Divorce
Monday
National
Weigh-In Day
Observances This
Week:
1-7
2-8
Someday
We'll Laugh About This Week
« »
Quote of
the Day
Historical
Highlights for Today
1709 - Sudden
extreme cold kills thousands of Europeans
1757 - Failed assassination
attempt on French King Louis XV by Damiens
1834 - Kiowa
Indians record this as the night the stars fell
1900 - Irish
leader John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule
1905 - National Association of Audubon Society, a
non-profit, environmental organization dedicated to conservation, incorporates
1914 - Ford
Motor Co wages jump from $2.40/9-hr day to $5.00/8-hr day
1930 - Mao
Zedong writes "A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire"
1933 - Work on
Golden Gate Bridge begins, on Marin County side
1944 - The
Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper
1968 - Dr Benjamin
Spock indicted for conspiring to violate draft law
1`972 - US President
Nixon signs a bill for NASA to begin research on a manned space shuttle
« »
My
Rambling Thoughts
Had a good time with friends as we watched the Cardinals game. Not
a happy end to their season. I am reminded of my early days on the Rez. Being a
Denver boy, I was a Bronco’s fan. The Rez didn’t have a team anywhere nearby,
so they were almost all Cowboy fans. I took a lot of razzing as back then the
Bronco’s weren’t playing that well. Since the Cards came to AZ they have become
the Rez team. Everybody wears Card jerseys, many go to the games in Phx, etc.
The Cards haven’t been doing that well for a few years, but the Rez fans keep
supporting their team. Many of the comments I hear now from the Card fans are
the same things I was saying about the Broncos back in the day. I’m far from
fanatic, but I do always support my Broncos.
A disappointing note about living in the US today…Information has
been sent to all hospitals by an exploited children organization, asking the
hospital not release any information about babies born at the hospital,
especially the first baby at the hospital each year. Their reasoning is that
the information can be used to steal children from the hospital or to steal the
child’s identity. Sad indeed
« »
Brain
Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
A
spoonerism is a pair of words that can have their initial sounds switched to
form new words. The pairs need only sound the same, not necessarily be spelled
the same (power saw & sour paw, horse cart & coarse heart). There may
sometimes be one or two connecting words (kick the stone & stick the cone,
king of the rats & ring of the cats). Given the following definitions, what
are the spoonerisms?
1) to affix a worm to the end of a fishing line & to dislike a novel
2) to move by foot at a slow gait for eight furlongs & to ridicule for an unspecified amount of time
3) to strike a cooking utensil with the foot & to select a cylindrical metal container
4) to cook a turtle's covering in an oven & to wave a clanging instrument with a jerky motion
1) to affix a worm to the end of a fishing line & to dislike a novel
2) to move by foot at a slow gait for eight furlongs & to ridicule for an unspecified amount of time
3) to strike a cooking utensil with the foot & to select a cylindrical metal container
4) to cook a turtle's covering in an oven & to wave a clanging instrument with a jerky motion
« »
Paraphernalia
4 the Brain:
50’s
Inventions…
1953
Radial tires invented.
The first musical synthesizer invented
by RCA.
David Warren invented the black box -
flight recorder.
Transistor radio invented by Texas
Instruments.
Education
Facts…
<> American school children rank 25th in math and 21st in
science out of the top 30 developed countries, but ranked 1st in confidence
that they outperformed everyone else.
<> In 2014, a college in upstate New York started offering
classes on the sociology of Miley Cyrus.
Flagstaff,
AZ History…
50 YEARS
AGO
The tularemia epidemic is on the upswing. All persons, especially
hunters, are warned to take extreme precautions. Dr. Hugh Dierker, Director of
the Coconino Health Dept. says it is "epidemic" wherever rabbits are
"as thick as rabbits."
Flagstaff’s
Iconic 50…
Rising Hy
Hot Sauce
Mike and Brian Konefal have always had each other’s backs — in
elementary school, in college at NAU, and now as adults living in Flagstaff.
Mike is the founder of Rising Hy Hot Sauce, and Brian is the chef at his
restaurant, Coppa Café. They both own their own businesses, but help each other
out every step of the way.
After graduating from NAU in 2002 with a degree in Spanish, Brian
left for Italy to attend culinary school. While there, he fell in love with a
pastry chef from Brazil, Paola Fioravanti. After about two years in Europe, the
couple moved to San Francisco and tied the knot. Their work then took them to
New York, Boston, and eventually back to Flagstaff, where they took a yearlong
hiatus from cooking.
“We spent a couple months trying to figure out what to do, and we
realized we just wanted to be our own boss,” Brian said.
While Brian was traveling the world, Mike was getting his public
relations degree at NAU and more importantly beginning his hot sauce career. He
made and sold his first sauce during his senior year in college.
“I use to keep it in a whisky bottle, and people would come over
all the time just to use it,” Mike said.
After the success of that sauce, Mike wanted to make more, so
during the summer of Brian’s hiatus, the brothers experimented with different
peppers, tested different flavors, and formed calluses on their tongues until
they made four perfect condiments with a kick.
“We just tore our mouths up and our stomachs up, because we were
tasting raw habaneros just to get an idea of the flavor and all that,” Brian
explained. “We dove in really deep.”
RisingHy now sells Habanero Hot Sauce, Honey Mustard, Habanero
Olive Oil, and Citrus Habanero Salt.
Harper’s
Index…
47
Number of US states in which workers are not guaranteed paid
paternal leave
0
Number of the world’s twenty other wealthiest nations in which
they are not
Rules of
Thumb…
FIRST-TIME
GUITAR PLAYER
If you pick up a guitar for the first
time, and your friend comments that you play like Hendrix, don't be flattered.
You're playing left-handed.
Unusual
Fact of the Day…
August is the month when most babies are born.
« »
Joke-of-the-day
Sign on company bulletin board: “This firm
requires no physical-fitness program. Everyone gets enough exercise jumping to
conclusions, flying of the handle, running down the boss, flogging dead horses,
knifing friend in the back, dodging responsibility, and pushing their luck.”
Yep, It
Really Happened
ST. LOUIS
(UPI)
An Illinois man suffering pain in his arm underwent surgery to
remove a turn signal rod embedded in his body when he crashed his Ford
Thunderbird 51 years ago. Arthur Lampitt, 75, of Granite City, said he was
treated for injuries to the surface of his arm after the 1963 crash, but he did
not know anything had remained stuck there until he set off a courthouse's
metal detector about 10 to 15 years ago. Lampitt said his doctor performed an
X-ray and determined there was a metallic object in his arm, but it was
recommended it be left where it was as there was no pain or loss of
functionality in his arm. The retired real estate agent said the arm finally
began to hurt a few weeks ago while he was doing work at a house he is
repairing, and a specialist recommended surgery when the affected area started
to swell. Lampitt unearthed some pictures from his 1963 crash and began to
suspect the metal object in his arm was the turn signal lever when he realized
the object was missing after the Thunderbird's demise. Surgeons at City Place
Surgery Center in St. Louis, Mo., operated on the arm for about 45 minutes on New
Year's Eve and discovered the cause of Lampitt's problems was indeed the 7-inch
turn signal lever. Lampitt said he is planning to do something special with the
lever, possibly turn it into a key chain. "We'll figure out something, I
am sure," he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Somewhat
Useless Information
The
Louisiana Bar Exam holds the distinction of being the longest bar exam in the
United States, consisting of 21 and a half hours of examination on nine topic
areas.
This
three-day long examination used to determine whether a candidate is qualified
to practice law in the state of Louisiana.
In order to sit for the exam an applicant must have graduated from an
ABA accredited law school and be deemed of good moral character.
Gizmos
CHICAGO (UPI)
In
terms of movie-watching, Blu-rays have become largely obsolete (or at least
undesired) -- rendered so by the ascent of Netflix and other streaming
services. But that doesn't mean the blue-bottomed discs are useless. It turns
out they're great for enhancing the sun-absorbing abilities of solar panels.
The minuscule patterns etched into the bottom of the discs are perfect for capturing and scattering light onto the energy absorption technologies of modern solar panels. The discs themselves, of course, block most light. But the discs themselves aren't applied -- their pattern is simply borrowed and replicated on the panel.
Scientists already knew a quasi-random pattern of microscopic grooves was ideal for capturing and dispersing light as it hits the surface of a solar panel. But manufacturing such a pattern is expensive. Blu-rays offer a viable shortcut.
"We had a hunch that Blu-ray discs might work for improving solar cells, and, to our delight, we found the existing patterns are already very good," Jiaxing Huang, a materials chemist and solar panel expert at Northwestern University, said in a press release. "It's as if electrical engineers and computer scientists developing the Blu-ray technology have been subconsciously doing our jobs, too."
Huang and his colleagues at Northwestern University first created a negative mold of the bottoms of Blu-ray discs. They then pressed the Blue-ray molds into a thin coat of liquid plastic, leaving behind the Blue-ray's signature stamp. Finally, the transparent plastic sheet is placed atop the solar panels. Testing showed the Blu-ray-patterned panels were able to absorb 21.8 percent more light than regular panels.
The ideal pattern for creating an iridescent scattering effect is one that's semi-random, and extremely condensed -- Blu-ray sequencing in a nutshell.
Superior to DVDs in their data storage abilities, Blu-rays compress so much information onto such a small surface using data processing algorithms that translate video signals into a sequence of zeros and ones. While seemingly random, the sequence actually has a bit of redundancy built in, limiting too many consecutive zeros or ones.
"It has been quite unexpected and truly thrilling to see new science coming out of the intersection of information theory, nanophotonics and materials science," Huang added.
The revelation of Huang and his colleagues is detailed in the journal Nature Communications.
The minuscule patterns etched into the bottom of the discs are perfect for capturing and scattering light onto the energy absorption technologies of modern solar panels. The discs themselves, of course, block most light. But the discs themselves aren't applied -- their pattern is simply borrowed and replicated on the panel.
Scientists already knew a quasi-random pattern of microscopic grooves was ideal for capturing and dispersing light as it hits the surface of a solar panel. But manufacturing such a pattern is expensive. Blu-rays offer a viable shortcut.
"We had a hunch that Blu-ray discs might work for improving solar cells, and, to our delight, we found the existing patterns are already very good," Jiaxing Huang, a materials chemist and solar panel expert at Northwestern University, said in a press release. "It's as if electrical engineers and computer scientists developing the Blu-ray technology have been subconsciously doing our jobs, too."
Huang and his colleagues at Northwestern University first created a negative mold of the bottoms of Blu-ray discs. They then pressed the Blue-ray molds into a thin coat of liquid plastic, leaving behind the Blue-ray's signature stamp. Finally, the transparent plastic sheet is placed atop the solar panels. Testing showed the Blu-ray-patterned panels were able to absorb 21.8 percent more light than regular panels.
The ideal pattern for creating an iridescent scattering effect is one that's semi-random, and extremely condensed -- Blu-ray sequencing in a nutshell.
Superior to DVDs in their data storage abilities, Blu-rays compress so much information onto such a small surface using data processing algorithms that translate video signals into a sequence of zeros and ones. While seemingly random, the sequence actually has a bit of redundancy built in, limiting too many consecutive zeros or ones.
"It has been quite unexpected and truly thrilling to see new science coming out of the intersection of information theory, nanophotonics and materials science," Huang added.
The revelation of Huang and his colleagues is detailed in the journal Nature Communications.
« »
Today’s
Events through History
1836 - Davy
Crockett arrives in Texas, just in time for the Alamo
1919 - National
Socialist Party (Nazi) forms as German Farmers Party
1930 - Bonnie Parker meets
Clyde Barrow for the first time
« »
Birthday’s
Today
Charlie
Rose, newscaster is 73
Diane
Keaton, [Hall], , actress (Annie Hall) is 69
Ted Lange, actor
(Isaac-Love Boat) is 67
Marilyn
Manson, singer/musician is 46
January
Jones, American actress is 37
« »
Remembered
for being born today
Konrad
Adenauer, chancellor of Germany) in 1876
Jeane
Dixon, American astrologer "A Gift of Prophecy" in 1904
Zebulon
Montgomery Pike, explorer (Pike's
Peak) in 1779
George
Reeves, [George Lescher Bessolo], , actor (Superman) in 1914
Jane
Wyman, actress (Magnificent Obsession)1st wife of Ronald Reagan in 1917
« »
Historical
Obits Today
Max Born,
German/British physicist (Nobel 1954), 1970, @87
George
Washington Carver, famous African American scientist, 1943, @81
Thomas P "Tip"
O'Neill, (D-Ma)/Speaker of House (1977-86), 1994, @81
Arthur
Kennedy, actor (Air Force), brain tumor, 1990, @76
Hans
Conried, actor (Bullwinkle Show), heart disease, 1982, @64
Sonny
Bono, (Rep-R-Ca)/singer (Sonny & Cher), skiing accident, 1998, @62
Calvin
Coolidge, 30th President (1923-29), stroke, 1933, @60
Amelia
Earhart, American aviator declared dead, 1939, @41
"Pistol
Pete" Mavarich, NBAer (Atlanta), heart attack, @40
« »
Brain Teasers Answers
1) bait a hook & hate a book
2) walk a mile & mock a while
3) kick a pan & pick a can
4) bake a shell & shake a bell
2) walk a mile & mock a while
3) kick a pan & pick a can
4) bake a shell & shake a bell
« »
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…§
