8 Sep

 

 

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 37 Day 251 \ Ave. Sky Cover 10% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 85° \53° 
Wind 5mph \ Gusts 8mph  Air Quality
Extreme Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 57mi \ Nearest Lightning 378mi
Sep Averages for Flagstaff: 74° \ 42° (5days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

Thru 9/11 US Open Tennis Championships

1-10  Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week

2-6  Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Link

3-11  Link International Air Ambulance Week

4-10  Suicide Prevention Week National Waffle Week

5-9  National Payroll Week

6-10  Play Days

7-10   Minimally Invasive Surgery Week  Link

8-10  Popcorn Days Link

Daily Observations

Ampersand Day
Date-Nut Bread Day
Iguana Awareness Day Link
International Literacy Day
Literacy Day
National Ampersand Day  Link
National School Picture Day Link 
Pardon Day Link
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses Day Link
Virgin Mary Day (birthday)
World Physical Therapy Day Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Another nice day…

The license plate for my new vehicle arrived today. In AZ you keep the plate until you sell the car. This new fangled one doesn’t appear to be metal. I’ll see if it lasts.

The monsoon rain figures for August were just released. Flagstaff got 180% of its normal precipitation for August. In August our little town got 5.46” of moisture…and the monsoon is still around. That’s good news for now.

I’ve been reading about all the flooding taking place in Pakistan. The US knows that Pakistan has 165 nuclear warheads. What I haven’t read about is how are those warheads being protected as the nation is flooding. Seems someone would be finding out.

As an educator it was difficult to watch the Uvalde students as they return to another school that now has 8’ fences, not all complete yet, and local cops at every corner around the school. The staff and administration were being very caring on the first day of school. I wish them the best school year ahead.

Putin is having trouble finding missiles for his Ukraine offensive. China won’t sell, Europe won’t sell, so he turns to N. Korea who is probably willing to sell. Not a done deal yet as China hasn’t talked to N. Korea.

Favorite Memes

Moon Facts…

  The Moon Is Hollow

On November 14, 1969, Apollo 12 performed an experiment. With everyone safely back in the command module, they crashed landed their lunar module on the moon. It landed with the force of one ton of TNT which caused a “moonquake” that peaked at minute eight and took a full hour to dissipate. Apollo 13 performed a similar experiment by crash landing a ton of their equipment which caused a bigger impact and a longer moonquake. As planetary scientists put it, “the moon was ringing like a bell.”

This has led to conspiracy theories, even ones promoted by a certain cable channel, to conclude that the moon must be hollow. Well, while the experiments did produce these strange results, it isn’t because the moon is hollow. It’s because it’s much drier than Earth. Water weakens stone, almost acting like a sponge and deadening vibrations. When there’s an earthquake, the vibrations end quickly in comparison to bodies that are drier and more ridge - like the moon. Simply, a moonquake takes a lot longer to stop due to dry rock not because it’s hollow inside.

Myth Buster

Vikings wore horned helmets

It’s actually quite difficult to imagine these warriors doing battle in such bulky apparel. In reality, their helmets were made of leather or metal with the occasional addition of eye or nose protection. Some didn’t even wear them. Richard Wagner’s opera, Der Ring des Nibelungen, (1876) instigated this myth. The costume designer was influenced by a discovery of horned objects which eventually proved to be Celtic.

Historical Events

1504 – Michelangelo’s David was unveiled in Piazza Della Signoria in Florence.

1892 – The Pledge of Allegiance was first published by the Youth’s Companion Magazine – “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

1921 – The First ‘Fall Frolic” was held in Atlantic City, and won by Margaret Gorman. Herb Test later coined the term for the winner: “Miss America.”

1930 – “Blondie” newspaper comic strip debuted.

1930 – 3M (formerly the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) began marketing Scotch transparent tape.

1935 – US Senator from Louisiana was shot by Carl Weiss, a political rival. He died from the wounds 2 days later.

1954 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was established.

1956 – Harry Belafonte’s album “Calypso” featuring The Banana Boat Song was the #1 album, according to Billboard, and stayed #1 for 31 weeks, become the first documented million-seller album.

1974 – US President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon for any crimes that then-President Nixon may have committed while in office.

1975 – US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appeared in his Air Force uniform on the cover of Time magazine with the headline “I Am A Homosexual”. He was given a general discharge, which was later upgraded to honorable.

1988 – Yellowstone National Park was closed due to ongoing summer fires.

1998 – Mark McGuire hit his 62nd home run, breaking Roger Maris’s record. He finished the season with a total of 70.

2004 – The NASA unmanned spacecraft Genesis crash-landed on Mars when its parachute failed to open.

Birthdays Today

@96 – Lyndon LaRouche, American politician, and activist (d. 2019)
@91 – Sid Caesar, American comedic actor (d. 2014)
@62 – Antonín Dvorák, Czech composer and academic (d. 1904; influenza)
81 – Bernie Sanders, American politician
68 – Ruby Bridges, American civil rights activist
@54 – Peter Sellers, English comedic actor (d. 1980; heart attack)
“Some forms of reality are so horrible we refuse to face them unless we are trapped into it by comedy. To label any subject unsuitable for comedy is to admit defeat.”– Peter Sellers
43 – Pink (Alecia Beth Moore), American singer-songwriter
“True beauty is knowing who you are and what you want and never apologizing for it.”– Pink
“You can’t move mountains by whispering at them.”– Pink
35 – Wiz Khalifa, Haitian rapper
@35 – Jimmie Rodgers, American singer-songwriter (d. 1933’ TB)
@30 – Patsy Cline, American singer-songwriter (d. 1963; plane crash)
“Oh, I offended you with my opinion? You should hear the ones I keep to myself.”– Patsy Cline
@28 – Avicii, Swedish EDM artist (d. 2018; suicide)
“There’s always haters, no matter what you’re doing – whether they’re complaining that everything you do sounds the same, or it’s too different.”– Avicii