19 Dec

 

19 December 2022

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 52 Day 353 \ Ave. Sky Cover 80% \ Visibility 25 miles Flagstaff Today 45° \13° 
Wind 4mph \ Gusts 9mph  Air Quality: Good\Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 435mi \ Nearest Lightning 2920mi
Dec Averages for Flagstaff: 43° \ 17° `
Overcast

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

Andisop (Meteorological Fiddling): 5-24   Link
Christmas Bird Count Week: 14-1/5 Link 
Halcyon Days: 14-28 
Halcyon Days: 14-28 
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over: 15 - 1/1/23  Link 
Posadas: 16-24
Saturnalia: 17-23
Chanukah: 18-26
Gluten-free Baking Week: 18-24  Link 
Cookie Exchange Week: 19-23  

Daily Observations

Holly Day
Look for an Evergreen Day
National Hard Candy Day
National Oatmeal Muffin Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Not as cold as it has been.  No expected moisture…just clouds.

The Broncos play the Cards today, meaning I get to watch the game live on TV. Yeah!

I went with focus travel to a trek on the Amazon a few years ago. Focus had done a trip to Macho Picchu a few years earlier and I didn’t go. Sadly, since the Focus visits, the government has had problems. Now over 300 tourists are stuck at Machu Picchu due to protests throughout the country. There are no flights out of the area and the train is not running either. I hope this is settled quickly. I am reminded that a friend, fellow traveler, and my brother’s 4^th grade teacher passed away on that Focus trip. She is still missed by many.

Argentina beat France is a long match to be crowned World Cup Champion-2022. Good game.

Favorite Memes

Did you Know?

Crocodiles can’t stick out their tongues.

When someone is feigning sadness, they’re sometimes said to be “crying crocodile tears.” This phrase linking crocodiles to their often teary-eyed display occurs in literature over the past several centuries. One of its earliest mentions appears in The Voyage and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, published in the 14th century, which says “these serpents slay men, and they eat them weeping.” Even William Shakespeare makes note of crocodile tears in Othello. Crocodiles do “cry,” but it’s mainly to keep their eyes lubricated if they’ve been out of water for long periods. In 2007, a zoologist from the University of Florida also proved that crocodiles weep when snacking, but theorized that the tears come from forced airflow (from a croc’s copious hissing and huffing), which in turn affects the reptile’s tear glands. 

Slang Origins

1940: Moxie

Meaning: energy; determination; courage; know-how

Moxie was one of the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States, created in the late 1880s as a patent medicine that didn’t contain ingredients like cocaine. It was advertised as something that would build up your nerve, and the drink was marketed throughout the war years of the 1940s as something patriotic that would fortify people against the enemy. Even as the brand lost its popularity, the word stuck around.

Corny jokes

What do you call fake spaghetti?
An im-pasta.
….
Why did the farmer win an award?
He was outstanding in his field.

Historical Events

1776 – Thomas Paine published one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania Journal entitled The American Crisis.
1998 – President Bill Clinton was impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second President of the United States to be impeached.
1917 – The first NHL Games took place. Montreal Canadians vs Ottawa Senators (7-4 final) and Montreal Wanders beat the Toronto Arenas (10 to 9 final).

Birthdays Today

@96 – Cicely Tyson, American actress (d.2021)
@80 – Lola Hendricks, American civil rights activist (d.2013)
78 – Tim Reid, American actor
78 – Richard Leakey, Kenyan Anthropologist
@75 – Leonid Brezhnev, Ukrainian-Russian marshal, engineer, politician, 4th Head of State of the Soviet Union (d.1982; heart atatck)
@74 – Maurice White, American singer-songwriter (d.2016; Parkinson’s)
65 – Kevin McHale, American basketball player
59 – Jennifer Beals, American actress
@55 – Robert Urich, American actor (d.2002; rare cancer)
55 – Criss Angel, American magician
“When the mind, body, and spirit work together I believe anything is possible.”– Criss Angel 53 – Richard Hammond, English journalist, TV presenter
“The easiest and simplest thing that anyone can do to make their car safer, more gas efficient, whatever – check the tire pressure.”– Richard Hammond
50 – Alyssa Milano, American actress
@47 – Édith Piaf, French singer-songwriter and actress (d.1963)
42 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor
35 – Ronan Farrow, American journalist