Dec 18



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Dec. 18, 2019 Week: 51  Day: 253
86004:   H 30° \ L 10° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%
Wind chill: 19

Nearest lightning:  1429mi
Nearest active fire:  468mi.  
Wind:   9mph\Gusts:  18mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 65°[1901]   Record Low: -14°[1908]
Dec. Averages: 44°\17° (5 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

“The frog does not drink up the pond
in which he lives.”
Sioux
~ Native American Proverb

Random Tidbits

Only two pairs of semi-identical twins have ever been identified and the most recent pair was a boy and a girl born in Brisbane, Australia, just a few years ago, according to research published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2019. "The Brisbane twins are likely the result of one egg being fertilized by two sperm cells, resulting in three chromosomes," according to IFL Science. "These three chromosomes were equally divided into two bunches of cells that then became two embryos."

Human corpses can continue to move for more than a year after death.

Observances This Week

3-24
Andisop (Meterological Fiddling)  Link

14-1/5
Christmas Bird Count Week Link 

14-28
Halcyon Days 
(Always 7 days before and 7 days after the Winter Solstice)

15-21
Gluten-free Baking Week Link 

16-20
Cookie Exchange Week

16-24
Posadas

17-23
Saturnalia

Observances for Today

Answer The Telephone Like Buddy The Elf Day Link
Arabic Language Day Link
Bake Cookies Day
Give A Wine Club Day  Link
International Migrants Day
National “I Love Honey” Day
National Roast Suckling Pig Day

My Rambling Thoughts

I am officially done with the current cold spell. It’s been days of temps in the 30’s with all day wind chill in the 20’s. Enough already.

I had to do a ‘fasting’ blood draw of 8 tubes today for my kidney doctor. I got an email last night saying to do it now. I’ve been waiting for it to warm up, but could not wait any longer. The guy did a great draw on the first stab. I waited until 9:30 to go, so I was starving as my last food was about 7pm last night. I then got gas at Sam’s as the little red light was on. When I got home, I had a message from the Kidney office, explaining that I needed to do the draw now, due to the holiday closings before my appointment on the 31st. I called to let them know that I did it today and the receptionist was happy I called. I then had a nice brunch.

One of our councilmen does a daily podcast about Flagstaff. Today there were interesting questions and discussion about ‘Should University students be able to vote in local elections?’. Back in the day I had to wait to be 21 to vote, so the issues were new to me. An ultraconservative state legislature from our area explained why he thinks they shouldn’t. Most college students live in the college town, Flagstaff, during each semester, but go back ‘home’ during breaks and after graduation. His bill would say they should get an absentee ballot for their ‘home’ where they live when not in school. Certainly, college students have to pay local taxes and our town has huge tax on everything and can say they are being taxed without representation. There are concerns about the lack of affordable housing in our town, and they should be able to vote for people who will address this long-standing issue. It certainly raised some important questions. I doubt this will every become law, but will have to pay close attention to the issue.

Flag will join many other places with an Impeach Now rally at 5p.


Today’s Puzzle
Answer at the bottom of this page

What is the next letter: W I T N ... ?

Historical Events

1271 Kublai Khan renames his empire "Yuan" ( yuán), marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of China

1620 - The British ship Mayflower docked at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, and its passengers prepared to begin their new settlement, Plymouth Colony. Passenger William Bradford became the first governor of the colony.

1787 - New Jersey became the 3rd state.

1799 George Washington's body interred at Mount Vernon

1839 - John William Draper took a daguerreotype of the moon, the first celestial photograph made in the US.

1865 - The 13th Amendment went into effect, abolishing slavery in the US.

1878 - Joseph Swan demonstrated his carbon filament electric light, almost a year before Edison.

1892 - The premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

1961 - Based on an African sing called 'Mbube' - The Lion Sleeps Tonight was the # 1 song on the billboard Charts. It is probably the most well-known doo-wop song of all time. (#1)

1968 - Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was released. It was based on Ian Fleming's book of the same name.

1977 - George and Kathleen Lutz purchased their new home at their home at 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville New York. Their 28-day adventure in the home was dramatically portrayed in the 1977 book and 1979 film, The Amityville Horror.


1987 - Moonstruck, Broadcast News, Eddie Murphy Raw, *batteries not included, Overboard, Ironweed and Leonard Part 6 debuted in theaters.

1996 - The Oakland, California school board unanimously passed a resolution for the incorporating of Ebonics in the classroom.

1997 - Comedian Chris Farley died from a drug overdose, at the age of 33.

1997 - HTML 4.0 was published by the World Wide Web Consortium.

1998 - The Prince of Egypt and You've Got Mail were released in theaters.

2002 Fashion designer Calvin Klein announces he is selling his company to shirt-maker Phillips-Van Heusen for $430 million

2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers debuted in theaters.

2010 - #1 Hit: Katy Perry - Firework

2013 - A&E suspended Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson for comments he made regarding homosexuality and the civil rights era in an interview with GQ magazine. He was reinstated on December 27.

2018 Meteor explodes in huge fireball over the Bering Sea with 10 times the energy of Hiroshima atomic bomb , 2nd largest in last 30 yrs.

Birthdays Today

95 - Cicely Tyson, America actress

@87 - Ossie Davis, American actor
      (died in 2005)

@78 - Willy Brandt, German politician
       (died in 1992; colon cancer)

76 - Keith Richards, English singer-songwriter

@74 - Joseph Stalin, Georgian-Russian politician, 4th Premier of the Soviet Union
     (died in 1953; stroke)

73 - Steven Spielberg, American director, producer, and screenwriter

66 - Elliot Easton, Cars; guitarist and singer

65 - Ray Liotta, American actor

@59 - Joseph Grimaldi, English clown, known as "The Greatest Clown in History"
      (died in 1837)

56 - Brad Pitt, American actor

51 - Casper Van Dien, American actor

@50 - Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
       (died in 1914; assassinated)

49 - DMX (Earl Simmons), American rapper

41 - Katie Holmes, American actress

39 - Christina Aguilera, American singer-songwriter

Puzzle answer:
 The letter L: (W)hat (I)s (T)he (N)ext (L)etter.



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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.