24 Jan

 

24 January 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 4 Day 24 \ Ave. Sky Cover 90% \ Visibility 5 miles Flagstaff Today 35° \11°  Wind 10mph \ Gusts 17mph 
Air Quality: Fair\Very Low Moderate High Extreme Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 563mi \ Nearest Lightning 1806mi
Jan Averages for Flagstaff: 44° \ 16° \5 Days of moisture
Snow flurries

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

18-25
Week of Christian Unity
National Soccer Coaches of America Week
19-29
Sundance Film Festival
22-28
Clean Out Your Inbox Week
Data Privacy Week Link
National CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists) Week
National Handwriting Analysis Week
National School Choice Week Link 
Snowcare for Troops Week
Snowcare for Troops Week
23-28
National Medical Group Practice Week
23-25
Westminster Dog Show

Daily Observations

Beer Can Day  Link  Link
Belly Laugh Day
Eskimo Pie Day
International Day of Education
International Mobile Phone Recycling Day Link
‘Just Do It’ Day
National Compliment Day
National Lobster Day
National Peanut Butter Day Link
Talk Like A Grizzled Prospector Day  Link
World Day for African and Afro-descendant Culture

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

The expected snow has arrived. This adds about 4” so far to our already record snowfall for January.  I’m sure glad I don’t have to go anywhere today. I now have three layers of icicles hanging from the roof out my office window. The longest ones are about 4 feet. If we get 3.1” more before Jan. 31 it will be #2 in the record books. This areas average snowfall for January is 29”. Right now we are at 60.4" this month.

I did two loads of laundry and got everything hung up or in drawers. Nice!  

Never jump to conclusions with limited knowledge: Ten were killed, ten more hospitalized after a shooting in a predominately Asian neighborhood in CA. The police have arrested a 72- year-old Chinese man with a history of issues. As sad as this is, many news organizations incorrectly assumed it was a hate crime against Asians. This is the 33^rd mass shooting in 2023…and it is only the 23^rd of January.

60 Minutes did a good piece on the Ukraine ballet dancers and their struggles with the on-going war. Many Ukrainian dancers have left the Russian Ballet since the war began.

The Big 5 of Africa…lions, leopards, elephants, African buffalo, & rhinoceroses

Arizona is a great state…

·        Arizona's disparate climate can yield both the highest temperature across the nation and the lowest temperature across the nation in the same day.

·        There are more wilderness areas in Arizona than in the entire Midwest. Arizona alone has 90 wilderness areas, while the Midwest has 50.

·        Arizona has 26 peaks that are more than 10,000 feet in elevation.

Facts…

In the 1980s, the Times Square Ball was reconfigured into an apple.

Times Square’s New Year’s Eve confetti is all tossed by hand.

Dropping a deluge of confetti into Times Square on New Year’s Eve is no small feat; preparations for the confetti avalanche take about a year, beginning while the previous holiday’s tissue paper is still being swept up. A large part of organizing the confetti shower is recruiting crews to release the 3,000 pounds that descend on Times Square, since there are no cannons involved — instead, every piece is hand-tossed. Workers are trained in the proper way to fluff and throw the biodegradable paper scraps for maximum impact, which is timed to begin 20 seconds before midnight so that the confetti descends into the crowds below right on cue. 

Slang Origins

1973: Watergate

Meaning: a scandal, typically one that involves abuses of office and a cover-up

Watergate was a scandal that would eventually lead to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. It was an earth-shattering revelation to many Americans and would prove to leave a linguistic legacy, as well as a historical one. Today, “-gate” is attached to the end of even the most minor scandals, and people who have never heard of Watergate instantly know that it indicates corruption.

UNESCO sites…

Socotra Is Home to the Rare Dragon's Blood Tree Found Nowhere Else on Earth

 You’ll find the island of Socotra between the Guardafui Channel and the Arabian Sea, off the tip of the Horn of Africa. Controlled by neighboring Yemen, it is the largest of the four islands in the Socotra archipelago. The island is remote and otherworldly — up to a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on Earth. One of those rare plants is the umbrella-like dragon's blood tree, whose name comes from the dark red resin it secretes. The species has been used in medicine for centuries, and a dye made from its resin is thought to be responsible for the color of Stradivarius violins. About 60,000 people live on the 29-square-mile island, and the entire place is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Historical Events

1848 – California Gold Rush Bagan- James W. Marshall found gold at Sutter’s Mill, near Sacramento.
1984 – Apple Computer introduced the Macintosh personal computer for sale in the United States.
1985 – The American shuttle Discovery began a ‘secret’ mission, probably for the military with a spy satellite.
1995- Live coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial began. Day-time network soap operas were pre-empted for almost nine months.

Birthdays Today

@95 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (d. 2012)
@91 – Oral Roberts, evangelist, founded Oral Roberts University (d. 2009)
84 – Ray Stevens, American singer-songwriter
82 – Neil Diamond, American singer-songwriter
82 – Aaron Neville, American singer
@75 – Edith Wharton, American novelist, short-story writer (d. 1937)
The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it.– Edith Wharton
@74 – Frederick the Great, Prussian king (d. 1786)
72 – Yakov Smirnoff (Yakov Naumovich Pokhis), Ukrainian-American comedian, actor
In America, you break law. In Soviet Russia, law breaks you! In America, you watch Big Brother. In Soviet Russia, Big Brother watch you!– Yakov Smirnoff
@58 – William Congreve, English playwright, and poet (d. 1729; carriage accident)
Musick has Charms to soothe a savage Breast,
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.– William Congreve
55 – Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can: by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we’ve been given.– Mary Lou Retton
53 – Matthew Lillard, American actor
49 – Ed Helms, American actor
45 – Kristen Schaal, American actress
44 – Tatyana Ali, American actress, singer
44 – Nik Wallenda, American acrobat
37 – Mischa Barton, English-American actress
@33 – John Belushi, American comedic actor (d. 1982; OD)
Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell, no!– John Belushi, in Animal House
@26 – Sharon Tate, American model, and actress (d. 1969; murdered)
Everything that’s realistic has some sort of ugliness in it. Even a flower is ugly when it wilts, a bird when it seeks its prey, the ocean when it becomes violent.– Sharon Tate