1 Aug

 

 

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 32 Day 213 \ Ave. Sky Cover 35% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 80° \54° 
Wind 7mph \ Gusts 9mph  Air Quality Fair
Moderate Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 10mi \ Nearest Lightning 40mi
Aug Averages for Flagstaff: 79° \ 50° (9days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Monthly Observations

August is Biniant’aats’ozi: Ripening of Early Crops (Navajo)
American Adventures Month
American Artists Appreciation Month Link
American Indian Heritage Month Link  (See also November)
American History Essay Contest (8/1 - 12/15) 
Arrr-gust: International Pirate Month  Link
Black Business Month
Boomers Making A Difference Month
Bystander Awareness Month

Weekly Observations

Thru Sep.5 National Marina Days (From Memorial Day to Labor Day)  Link

Thru 8/6 National Exercise With Your Child Week

1-5  Psychic Week

1-7  Happiness Happens Week Link International Clown Week Link National Bargain Hunting Week   National Cleanse Your Skin Week  Link National Minority Donor Awareness Week Single Working Women's Week  Link (Always has 8/4 in it which is Single Working Women's Day. So, sometimes begins last week of July.) Simplify Your Life Week World Breastfeeding Week Link National Exercise With Your Child Week

Daily Observations

Assistance Dog Day  Link Link  
Girlfriend's Day
International Can-It-Forward Day  Link   (Mason Jars)
Lammas Day (Merry Loafmas)  Link
Lughnasa or Lughnasadh [Gaelic] Link Link
Mahjong Day
Minority Donor Awareness Day
National Mahjong Day  Link
National Minority Donor Awareness Day
Raspberry Cream Pie Day
Respect For Parents
Rounds Resounding Day
Spider-Man Day (See also Oct. 14)
US Air Force Day Link
World Lung Cancer Day
World Wide Web Day
World Scout Scarf Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Happy statehood day to Colorado. My family always flew the CO flag on this holiday.

Lots of rain yesterday…sadly that means flooding for many.

Last week, including yesterday, US 89 North of Flagstaff has been closed to traffic for hours at a time due to flooding coming from the newest burn scars. I have lived in the area for 4+ decades and it has never closed so many times. I can only remember 2 times it closed for extended periods and that was due to a couple of fires.

Last night’s discussion group was very good. The lady who founded our Flagstaff chapter is visiting Flagstaff and joined our group. She was also my financial advisor. We are having lunch this week. Our group was able to discuss many of the things Biden has done since taking office. While we are both Dems and Republicans, very liberal to leaning conservative, we all agree that Biden needs to get kudos for what he has done.

Biden has tested positive for the 2^nd time in a few weeks. Wishing him another speedy recovery.

China attempted to send up a rocket to deliver modules for its space station. The rocket fell back to earth, into the ocean. Thankfully, there were no injuries.

Favorite Memes

One Hit Wonders

Lorne Greene: 'Ringo'

This hit single features Canadian actor Lorne Greene speaking throughout much of the song, which tells the wondrous tale of an infamous gunslinger named Ringo and his snafu with a lawman in the Old West. It topped the Billboard charts, much to the dismay of many music aficionados. 

Historical Events

1789 – The US Customs Service began.
1790 – The first U.S. Census took place; there were 3,929,326 people living here.
1794 – The Whiskey Rebellion Western. Pennsylvania farmers revolted, protesting the excise duty (tax) on stills and spirits distilled in the U.S.
1834 – Slavery was abolished in Jamaica
1876 – Colorado became the 38th state.
1916 – Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was established.
1943 – The Oak Ridge (Tennessee) Atomic Plant was started.
1944 – The last entry for Anne Frank’s diary
1946 – In Athens, Tennessee, battle-hardened WWII veterans won a shootout with highly corrupt police deputies who were manipulating ballots and illegally holding ex-GIs in the county jail.
1952 – The extinction of the San Benedicto Rock Wren, a previously unendangered species, can be traced almost to the minute on the morning of August 1st when a volcanic eruption covered their entire island.
1957 – The United States and Canada formed the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Due to a wrong phone number Sears ad misprint, a child called to check on where Santa was that evening (December 24), and NORAD has been tracking Santa every Christmas Eve, since its inception.
1961- Six Flags Over Texas, the first park in the Six Flags chain opened in Arlington, Texas.
1966 – China’s Cultural Revolution began, with purging (killing) the remnants of capitalist and traditional elements from Chinese society, and to re-impose Maoist thought as the dominant ideology within the Party. About 1.5 million people were ‘purged’.
1969 – The Zodiac Killer’s letters arrived at several San Fransisco newspapers. The killer was never caught.
1980 – Vigdis Finnbogadottir was elected President of Iceland, the world’s first democratically elected female head of state.
1981 – MTV network debuted on cable television, actually playing music videos 24 hours a day. The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first video shown, followed by Pat Benatar’s “You Better Run”.
1990 – Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau created the prototype HTML language and the World-Wide Web.

Birthdays Today

@75 – Dom DeLuise, American actor (D. 2009; cancer)
74 – Avi Arad, Israeli-American producer, founded Marvel Studios
@72 – Herman Melville, American novelist, short story writer, poet (D. 1891; heart attack)
@71 – Yves Saint Laurent, Algerian-French fashion designer, co-founded Yves Saint Laurent (D. 2008; cancer)
@68 – William Clark, American explorer, of Lewis & Clark (D. 1838)
@64 – Claudius, Roman emperor (D. 54; poisoned)
@61 – Francis Scott Key, American author, and poet (D. 1843; pleursy)
59 – Coolio, American rapper
@53 – Jerry Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (D. 1995; heart attack)
43 – Jason Momoa, American actor

 

Jul 31

 

 

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 32 Day 212 \ Ave. Sky Cover 80% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 74° \53° 
Wind 2mph \ Gusts 5mph  Air Quality Fair
Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 9mi \ Nearest Lightning 3mi
Jul Averages for Flagstaff: 82° \ 51° (8 days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

Thru Sep.5 National Marina Days (From Memorial Day to Labor Day)  Link

23-31  National Moth Week

28-31 Lollapalooza

29-31   Garlic Days Link   Annie Oakley Days Satchmo Week

31-8/6 National Exercise With Your Child Week

Daily Observations

National Avocado Day
National Cotton Candy Day
National Jump for Jellybeans Day
National #Love Day
National Mutt Day
National Orgasm Day  
Uncommon Instruments Awareness Day
World Ranger Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Stormy Saturday here. It has been raining on and off all morning and now into the afternoon. Many younger residents are busy filling sandbags for potential flooding.

I bought 2 changes on that big lottery. Not only didn’t I win, not one number on my ticket matched the winning numbers.

I’m glad I read the articles on Biden for tonight’s discussion. While I am disappointed that he hasn’t done more, he has done a lot since taking office.

Every time I read about our relations with either China or Russia, I recall my fantastic Trans-Siberian Railroad adventure with Focus Travel. It is so hard for me to deal with the changes that have taken place since that trip just a few years ago. On that trip we met some great Russian, Mongolian, and Chinese citizens. We were treated well. We had good food. We saw amazing sites. It is so sad that Americans can no longer enjoy these places in today’s climate.

Favorite Memes

One Hit Wonders

Norman Greenbaum: 'Spirit In The Sky'

This upbeat, chart-topping song from Malden, Massachusetts native Norman Greenbaum is featured in more than 30 feature films, including “Apollo 13” in a memorable scene where the astronauts broadcast back to Earth. “Spirit in the Sky” soared up the pop charts and sold more than 2 million copies.  

Historical Events

·           781 – The oldest recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.
·           1492 – Jews were expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree took effect.
·           1790 – The United States Patent Office opened
·           1790 – The first US patent (X000001) was issued, to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.
·           1792 – The cornerstone of the first US Federal Building was laid, the Philadelphia Mint
·           1948 – Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) was dedicated.
·           1961 – At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in Major League Baseball history happened, after the game was stopped in the ninth inning because of rain.
·           1989 – Game Boy released, video game
·           1991 – The United States and Soviet Union both sign the START I Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
·           1995 – The Walt Disney Company announced their plans to purchase both ABC and ESPN
·           2006 – Cuba’s Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother, Raul Castro.

Birthdays Today

@94 – Milton Friedman, American economist,academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2006)
@90 – Marion Talbot, influential American educator (d. 1948)
@86 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster and actor (d. 2006)
@83 – Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American songwriter, founded Atlantic Records (d. 2006)
64 – Mark Cuban, American businessman
60 – Wesley Snipes, actor
57 – J. K. Rowling, English author and film producer
56 – Dean Cain, American actor
@49 – Whitney Young, American activist (d. 1971; drowned in Nigeria)
44 – Zac Brown, American country singer-songwriter
43 – B.J. Novak, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter
41 – Matt ‘M. Shadows’[, American musician, lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold