Rain, Rain, Stay Awhile

As we end the month of June, rain has returned to Flag. Three separate showers today. Two were short and ended within five minutes. The last however lasted about 20 minutes. So good for the forest.

Arizona seems to be heading for a big shut down of government services. Still no budget has been sent to the non-elected governor. This woman, Jan Brewer, seems to be in way over her head in Arizona politics. Just over the news, they are getting close to a budget. They are talking about a 3% flat tax for us. Whatever that means. Oh, I know what a flat tax is…but I’m sure this one will end up costing us more. The $600 million in spending cuts won’t make life any better here either. Guess in this day of superfast internet speed, we will find out tomorrow morning in the newspaper what is going on.

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Random Fact
Penguins can convert salt water into fresh water.

June is…

Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 25
National Watermelon Seed Spitting Week

June 27—178 days so far this year…187 days remain in 2009
Great American Backyard Campout
National HIV testing Day
Decide To Be Married Day
*UK: Veteran’s Day
*Brazil: Mixed Race Day

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1462
Louis XII (the Just) king of France (1498-1515)
1846
Charles Stewart Parnell Ireland, nationalist
1862
May Irwin US comedienne/singer (A Hot Time in the Old Town)
1869
Emma Goldman anarchist/publisher (Mother Earth)
1872
Paul Laurence Dunbar Dayton Oh, short story writer (Majors & Minors)
1880
Helen Keller blind-deaf author/lecturer had more sense than many
1913
Willie Mosconi billiard player 1975 - Tobey Maguire actor
1920
I.A.L. Diamond screenwriter (1960 Acad Award-The Apartment)
1927
Bob Keeshan aka Capt Kangaroo/Clarabelle (Good Morning Captain)
1930
H Ross Periot Texas billionaire (Presidential candidate)
1938
Bruce E Babbitt (Gov-D-AZ, Sec. of Interior)

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
1693
1st woman's magazine "The Ladies' Mercury" published (London)
1806
Buenos Aires captured by British
1857
Scientific American magazine warns that whale oil, used for lighting, may soon run out due to overhunting
1885
Chichester Bell and Charles S. Tainter applied for a patent for the gramophone. The patent was granted on May 4, 1886.
1922
Newberry Medal 1st presented for kids literature (Hendrik Van Loon)
1929
1st color TV demo (NYC)
1934
Federal Savings & Loan Association created
1955
The first Wide Wide World was broadcast on NBC-TV
1st automobile seat belt legislation enacted (Illinois)
1963
Pres Kennedy spent 1st full day in Ireland
1966
1st sci-fi soap opera, "Dark Shadows," premiers
1969
Police raid the Stonewall Inn
1980
The the National Anthem Act, making O Canada Canada's national anthem, was unanimously accepted by the House of Commons and the Senate
1990
Salman Rushdie, condemned to death by Iran, contributes $8600 to help their earthquake victims
1992
Michael Jackson kicked off the Dangerous Tour in Munich, Germany
2003
Registration begins for the Do Not Call List with nearly 3/4 million phone numbers registered on the first day providing consumers with an opportunity to limit telemarketing calls

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

Every answer here is a word, name, or phrase that ends in the syllable ‘new’ in any spelling

EX: street Answer: avenue

1. Something to paddle
2. Young actress
3. Actor Reeves
4. Group of attendants for an important person
5. 1960’s-70’s vice president
6. Chief of staff under the first Pres. Bush
7. First prime minister of Burma
8. Business income
9. Phrase that means ‘confidentially’
10. Question for a pussycat?
*Bonus: William Henry Harrison nickname
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Answers:
1. Canoe
2. Ingénue
3. Keanu
4. Retinue
5. Agnew
6. Sununu
7. U Nu
8. Revenue
9. Entre nous
10. What’s new?

Bonus: Tippecanoe
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Two Entertainment Icons Lost

A strange news day to be sure. Two icons of different eras passed. Early in the day, Farrah Fawcett lost her long battle with cancer. Just as that was sinking in, the news broke that Michael Jackson passed. The 24/7 news channels have gone into overdrive over Michael’s death. Both were icons. Jackson’s death was a surprise, Fawcett’s was not. I guess that’s how death is. Many seem to mourn longer and louder when someone passes without being ill. No time to prepare. No time to reflect. Sad, because a life gone is just that…gone. Gone to another plane, or just gone. Whichever, gone from this world.

Clouds all day. Sunrise brought us the reminder that there are several prescribed burns in the area. The whole East Flagstaff area was in a heavy haze. The breeze must have finally blown that away. Then the clouds came in, spit a tiny bit of rain, and stayed, unable to do anymore. The evening’s cool breeze has helped drop the high of 80° down to a much nicer 62°.

I attempted to help my friend Martha buy a digital camera. She takes very good pictures and puts them in her many newsletters. She has been having trouble finding a place to develop her film lately. She is not a technocrat, so this was a really big deal. We found a nice one, at a reasonable price, that appeared fairly easy to use. Got the camera running, took some pics, downloaded the CD that came with the camera onto her laptop. Then we looked for the cord that connects the camera to the computer. Not in the box. It used the same one my cell phone uses, so we were even able to download some pics. She went back to the store, only to find that it would be several weeks to get the cord. Smartly, she just got her money back after about an hour of hassles. The problem is, she sees it as just another sign that technology is too complicated for her. She certainly has had more than her share of techno problems. I do understand her frustration. It’s just sad that she will not be looking for another camera for some time. This really wasn’t a techno problem; it was some salesperson’s stupidity or some glitch from the camera people. I believe that some salesperson just took the cord out of the box and lost it, or gave it to some other customer and put the box back on the shelf. Whatever caused the problem, it simply further added to her “technology bad” version of reality.
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Random Fact
The ashes of the average cremated person weigh nine pounds.

June is…

Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 25
National Watermelon Seed Spitting Week

June 26—177 days so far this year…188 days remain in 2009

Take your Dog to Work Day
National Ugly Dog Day
International Day in Support of Torture Victims
International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
*Madagascar: Independence Day
*Thailand: Sunthorn Phu Day (Thailand's best-known poet. His most popular single work is the 30,000-line epic Phra Aphai Mani)

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1702
Dr Philip Doddridge England, nonconformist clergyman
1819
Abner Doubleday credited with inventing American baseball
1887
Anthony G de Rothschild Britain, philanthropist
1892
Pearl S Buck China, author (Good Earth-Nobel 1938)
1904
Peter Lorre actor (M, Casablanca, Beast with 5 Fingers)
1913
Maurice Wilkes inventor (stored program concept for computers)
1914
Babe (Mildred) Didrikson Zaharias
“The outstanding female athlete of the first half-century.”
1922
Frances Rafferty Sioux City Iowa, actress (December Bride)
1933
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita Calif, actor (Happy Days, Karate Kid)
1970
Chris O’Donnell actor

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…

1483
In a royal drama later told by Shakespeare, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, takes the crown of England as Richard III, following the death of King Edward IV and the imprisonment of the young Edward V.
1797
Charles Newbold patents 1st cast-iron plow. He can't sell it to farmers, though, they fear effects of iron on soil!
1819
The bicycle was patented by W.K. Clarkson, Jr. of New York City
1870
In Atlantic City, N.J., the world's first ocean side boardwalk is completed.
1900
Dr Walter Reed begins research that beats Yellow Fever
1906
The first French Grand Prix the first race of it's kind to be held anywhere was staged in Le Mans
1919
1st issue of NY Daily News published
1934
W E B Du Bois resigns position at NAACP
1945
The United Nations charter is signed by 50 countries in San Francisco after two months of negotiations
1959
Queen Elizabeth & Pres Eisenhower open the St Lawrence Seaway
1963
Kennedy visits W Berlin "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner)
1974
At a Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, a consumer purchased a package of Wrigley's chewing gum. And for the first time, a laser beam in an NCR checkout terminal with a bar code reader read a UPC bar code symbol on the package and automatically rang up the purchase.

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

Every answer below is a familiar two word phrase that contains the consecutive letters L-E-G with the first word ending with L-E and the second word beginning with G

EX: Automobile lubricant Answer: Axel grease

1. Something you chew and blow
2. A kind of bread made with unprocessed ingrediants
3. Where a war is fought
4. Kids climb on it in a playground
5. Stoves, washers, and big machines, from an economist’s standpoint
6. Bill Clinton or George Bush, scholastically speaking
7. Device that shoots tiny metal fasteners
8. She play Bea Arthur’s mother on “The Golden Girls”
9. Garden product brand that helps plants get larger
10. Dingy and off-white, like clothes that aren’t washed well
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Answers:
1. Bubble gim
2. Whole grain
3. Battle ground
4. Jungle gym
5. Durable goods
6. Yale Graduate
7. Staple gun
8. Estelle Getty
9. Miracle Gro
10. Tattletale grey
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Listen to the Scotsman

Summer has sure arrived in Flagstaff. Windows are now open until fall. It was 80° with a nice cooling breeze coming in about 3pm. With the clouds bringing in the 25% relative humidity, it was a pleasant day.

It is a shame that more don’t remember Scotsman Sir Walter Scott. Especially the SC governor. First he disappears for about a week. No one claims to know where he is, but no one seems concerned about his absence from the state. Ah, we all knew there was more to the story. Then finally his staff said he was out hiking the Appalachian Trail. That’s a 2100+ mile marked trail from Maine to Georgia. It probably doesn’t have a lot of cell phone service. He missed Father’s Day with his kids and his family. Then he got off a plane from Buenos Aires. This huge city is not near the American Appalachian Trail. He said he had thought about hiking, but at the last minute decided to go to Argentina. Somehow he found a road, in Buenos Aires that has a costal drive. No maps show such a road, no Argentineans know of such a road. Then he held a news conference and admitted an affair with a woman from Argentina. Then some emails came out that were very personal. He says he and his wife are not legally separated, but his wife said she kicked him out two weeks ago. While this part of the story is really not news—just fodder. Some other odd facts are: he called for Clinton to resign during the Monica thing, he has always run for his various offices on Christian values, he works against Gay marriage because he believes it is a sin. Sir Walter had it right: “Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive.”

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Random Fact

If you put a raisin in a fresh glass of champagne, it will rise and fall continuously.

June is…

Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month


Week of June 25
National Watermelon Seed Spitting Week

June 25—176 days so far this year…189 days remain in 2009
National Handshake Day
National Catfish Day
*Mozambique: Independence Day
*Oglala Sioux: Victory Day--Tribal offices closed

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1852
Antonio Gaud¡ Spanish architect (Sagrada Familia, Barcelona)
1865
Robert Henri US painter, leader of the Ashcan school
1903
George Orwell England, satirist/author (Animal Farm, 1984)
1925
June Lockhart NYC, actr (Lassie)
1945
Carly Simon NYC, singer
1949
Jimmie Walker Bronx NY, comedian

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
1630
Fork introduced to American dining by Gov Winthrop
1638
A lunar eclipse becomes the 1st astronomical event recorded in US
1835
1st building constructed at Yerba Buena (now SF)
1876
Custer & 7th Cavalry wiped out by Sioux & Cheyenne at Little Big Horn
1938
Problems with Native American Indian Businesses using The Swastika which is an Indian symbol of good luck and predates the modern world including the use of the swastika buy the Nazi Party in Germany is causing those Indian businesses to stop displaying the sign due to people believing it stands for the Nazis.
1961
Iraq announces that Kuwait is a part of Iraq (Kuwait disagrees)
1962
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5 to 4) that prayers in public schools violated the First Amendment to the Constitution regarding the separation of church and state.
1981
Supreme Court upholds male-only draft registration, constitutional
2005
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wins a landslide victory in Iran's presidential poll. Mr Ahmadinejad is a conservative hard liner and believes that Israel does not have rights in the Middle East. Because of this the world will be watching for further signs of tension in the area.
1998
Windows 98 was released. Microsoft used the slogan, “Works better. Plays better.”

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

Anagram the statements to complete the last names of these famous people.

EX: Jack “I LACK SUN” Answer: Nicklaus

1. Rush “I HUG LAMB”
2. Rocky “I CAN ROAM”
3. Dianne “I NET FINES”
4. Rodney “I FLED CARDEN”
5. Dwight “I SEE HER NOW”
6. Thomas “I GO BUG SHARON”
7. Richard “I BLAME RANCH”
8. Roman “I SANK P.L.O.”
9. Leonardo “I DO A CRIP”
10. Oscar “I MET SHERMAN”
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Answers:
1. LIMBAUGH
2. MARCIANO
3. REINSTEIN
4. BANGERFILED
5. EISENHOWER
6. GAINSBOROUGH
7. CHAMBERLAIN
8. POLANSKI
9. DiCaprio
10. HAMMERSTEIN
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Bored Kids

Now that school has been out for several weeks, our neighborhood is getting filled with bored children. We have about seven kids under school age and about ten kids in elementary school. Moms seem to be tired of trying to keep the school kids occupied with anything. Flagstaff is not known for its young youth programs, especially around here. So these kids are ‘taking to the streets’ with their kid games. Most are good kids. However, a couple are kids who seem to have no supervision at home. One preteen girl is just mean. She spends her time setting up other kids to get into mischief. She will start a simple game of tag, and then chase the little ones. To get away the kids run between the bushes and the buildings at all the houses. This is a small area, a couple of feet wide. The little ones scream at the top of their lungs. It is just no at my unit, it is at all the units in our building. The same mean girl will tell young ones to hit smaller kids then stand back and act all innocent. I don’t want to get the reputation as the ‘mean old guy’ so I usually just go out on my front porch, water some plants, and am pleasant. So far the kids have gotten the point. They have quieted down and quit getting so close to the buildings. I do feel sorry for the kids, because we don’t have a playground or anything else for kids to do. So I guess a little kid noise during the day isn’t that bad. I just hope the mean girl stops picking on the little ones.

On my way to lunch today, I was held up by a huge funeral procession from the Catholic Church. It was for a 90 year old veteran who lived in Flagstaff. The procession must have had at least 60 cars coming out of the church. There were still about 25 cars in the lot, I assume, preparing for the after burial feast. As I was coming back from a long lunch with a friend, the church parking lot was overflowing again. I mention this only because, to my knowledge, a funeral of this size is rare in Flagstaff for a man of this age. He sure had quite a following.

We started out cloudy today, with hope for rain. The clouds dispersed after lunch, rekindled about 4pm. They did not drop any rain on this end of town. I heard there were some sprinkles
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Random Fact
German chemists made a replica of a trophy the size of one molecule.

June is…
Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 21

Carpenter Ant Awareness Week
National Mosquito Control Awareness Week
National Old Time Fiddler’s Week

June 24—175 days so far this year…190 days remain in 2009

Celebration of the Senses Day
*Irland: Quarter Day
*Venezula: Battle of Carabobo Day—Boivar v Spain
*Bahá'í Faith: Feast of Rahmat (Mercy)
* Newfoundland and Labrador: Discovery Day (celebrating the 1497 discovery by John Cabot)

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1771
E I Du Pont France, chemist/scientist (Du Pont)
1839
Gustavus Franklin Swift founded Swift & Co
1895
Jack Dempsey heavyweight boxing champion (1919-26) (Manassa Mauler)
1912
Norman Cousins editor (Saturday Review)
1919
Al Molinaro Kenosha Wisc, actor (Odd Couple, Happy Days)
1923
Jack Carter Bkln NY, comedian/actor
1942
Mick Fleetwood drummer (Fleetwood Mac)
1944
Jeff Beck Surrey England, singer/songwriter
Bruce Johnston rocker (Beachboys)
1956
Joe Penny actor

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…

1314
In the Battle of Bannockburn, the decisive victory for Scottish independence, forces led by Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, defeat the troops of English king Edward II.
1497
John Cabot claims eastern Canada for England
1540
Henry VIII divorces his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves
1610
Membertou (MICMAC) becomes the 1st Indian Catholic.
1817
1st coffee planted in Hawaii on Kona coast
1894
Decision to begin modern Olympics every 4 years
1901
Painter Pablo Picasso has his first exhibit in Paris, at the age of 19
1947
Flying saucers sighted over Mount Rainier by pilot Ken Arnold
1948
Soviets blockade West Berlin when they block all off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin
1949
"Hopalong Cassidy" becomes 1st network western (NBC)
1951
Mexico has agreed to continue providing farm labor until the Bracero agreement runs out on July 15th , On June 15th the Mexican Government gave 30 days notice that it would end its migratory labor agreement.
1963
1st demonstration of home video recorder, at BBC Studios, London
1982
Equal Rights Amendment goes down to defeat


Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

Every answer here is a word or name that begins with the syllable “say” in any spelling

EX: Polio vaccine discoverer Answer: Sabin

1. Calvalry sword
2. Holy
3. Mass. Town where Nathaniel Hawthorne was born
4. To enjoy the taste of
5. Game show host Pat
6. Paul ___, French painter of “The Card Players”
7. “60 Minutes newsman Morley ___
8. Northern animal with valuable fur
9. Popular watch maker
10. Extreme cruelty
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Answers:
1. Saber
2. Sacred
3. Salem
4. Savor
5. Sajak
6. Cezanne
7. Safer
8. Sable
9. Seiko
10. Sadism
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Warm Day in Flagstaff

Sunrise at Stonehenge--First Day of Summer--2009. I should have posted this yesterday, but just forgot.


Another great summer day. My outdoor thermometer shows a high of 82°, with the Flagstaff high only 78°. Either way it was a very nice day. A great day to be outside. A good day to spend time on my deck.


It is difficult to get excited about anything with this good weather. So I’ll leave it to another day. The weather was great. I had a great time enjoying my deck. Maybe it’s because today was ‘Guy Thing Day’.

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Random Fact
Lenny Kravitz's mother played the part of 'Helen' on 'The Jeffersons'.

June is…
Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 21
Carpenter Ant Awareness Week
National Mosquito Control Awareness Week
National Old Time Fiddler’s Week


June 23—174 days so far this year…191 days remain in 2009

Public Service Day
National Columnists Day
Let It Go Day
*Northern Europe: Midsummer’s Eve
*Luxemburg: Grand Duke’s Official Birthday

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1668
Giambattista Vico, philosopher of history
1846
George Sax inventor (the saxophone)
1894
Duke of Windsor
Dr. Alfred Kinsey sexual behavior researcher
1927
Bob Fosse Chicago Ill, choreographer/director
1929
June Carter Cash Maces Spring Va, country singer
1940
Wilma Rudolph US, 100m/200m sprinter (Olympic-gold-1960)
1948
Clarence Thomas U.S. Supreme Court Justice

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
1683
William Penn signs friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania; only treaty "not sworn to, nor broken"
1775
1st regatta held on Thames, England
1860
Congress establishes the Government Printing Office
US Secret Service created
1868
Christopher Latham Sholes patents "Type-writer"
1938
Civil Aeronautics Authority (US) established
Marineland opens in Florida-1st aquarium
1955
Walt Disney's "Lady & the Tramp" released
1956
The army coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser deposed the regime of King Farouk 1961
The Antarctic Treaty (signed Dec. 1, 1959) comes into effect. It pledges the 12 signatory nations to nonpolitical, scientific investigation of the continent and bars any military activity.
1967
Jim Ryun sets mile record of 3 min, 51.1 sec (Bakersfield, CA)
*the fastest mile ever run is 3:43.13 by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999. The fastest women's mile is 4:12:86 ran by Svetlana Masterkova of Russia on August 14, 1996.
1979
The Charlie Daniels Band releases "Devil Went Down to Georgia"
1993
Lorena Bobbitt cut off her husband’s, uh, you know, with a butcher knife -- while he was sleeping

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987
Each answer is a two=word phrase with the initials T-D

EX: It helps you tear off adhesive Answer: tape dispenser

1. Activity in which you click your heels
2. What an auto dealer invites you to take in a new car
3. Inability to distinguish pitch in musical sounds
4. Reason for a filling
5. Thick book with names, addresses, and numbers
6. What shook the world in a book by John Reed
7. A charitable contribution or state taxes, on your IRS form
8. 1976 Martin Scorsese film starring Robert de Niro
9. What a TV station tells you it’s experiencing when a program suddenly stops
10. In China it lasted from the years 618 to 907

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Answers:
1. Tap Dance or tap dancing
2. Test drive
3. Tone deafness
4. Tooth decay
5. Telephone directory
6. Ten days
7. Tax deduction
8. “Taxi Driver”
9. Technical difficulties
10. T’ang dynasty
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Summer's Here

What a great way to start summer. We had a beautiful sunrise. We had a blue, cloudless sky. We had very little breeze. We had a 73° temperature. A great day to be outside. I took advantage of the day and washed, then detailed my vehicle. The wash is quick, through the nearby car wash. The detailing took a couple of hours. Vacuum, clean carpets, Armorall the inside, use Black Back on the black parts that have lost their black color to a dull grey. I don’t do this very often, as I get depressed looking at the new paint chips, a couple of cart dings, and the difficulty in removing the bug remnants from the bumper. However, when it is done, the ride looks a lot better. At least until the next spitting rain, which will undo the shine, undo the clean outside windows, and probably undo the shiny black. First day of summer brings out the joys of warm weather.

It is also Father’s Day. Only memories for those of us who are not fathers, and have lost our own fathers. It is mostly good memories for me. Many of my neighbors have been outside all day too. Not just the usual kids, but also moms and some dads. Watching the dads play with their kids is nice. Some of these dads don’t live here, but are here today. Each trying, in his own way, to be a father. Too bad they don’t realize that visiting kids on certain days seldom makes a man a father. On the other hand, these visits are better than nothing for most of the kids involved.

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Random Fact
n 1659, it was illegal to celebrate Christmas in Massachusetts.

June is…
Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 21
Carpenter Ant Awareness Week
National Mosquito Control Awareness Week
National Old Time Fiddler’s Week

June 21—172nd day of the year…193 days remain in 2009
Stupid Guy Thing Day
El Salvador: Teacher’s Day
Croatia: Anit-Fascist Struggle Day

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1837
Paul Morphy New Orleans, greatest chess player of all time (1857-61)
1858
Giacomo Puccini Italy, operatic composer (Madama Butterfly)
1887
Sir Julian Huxley London, biologist/philosopher
1903
John Dillinger one of America's Most Wanted
1906
Billy Wilder movie director
1922
Bill Blass Ft Wayne Ind, fashion designer
1928
Orson Bean Burlington Vt, comedian
1933
Dianne Feinstein1941 Ed Bradley Phila, CBS news correspondent
1936
Kris Kristofferson songwriter
1947
Don Henley drummer/singer (Eagles)
1948
"Pistol" Pete Maravich NBA star
1949
Meryl Streep NJ, actress
1953
Cyndi Lauper (Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper) Grammy Award-winning singer
1954
Freddie Prinze NYC, comedian/actor
1962
Clyde ‘The Glide’ Drexler--basketball

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
1342
Bilbo Baggins returns to his home at Bag End, (Shire Reconning)
1611
Henry Hudson & son set adrift in Hudson Bay by mutineers
1808
Zebulon Pike reaches his peak
1847
Doughnut created
1851
Fire destroys part of SF
1944
FDR signs "GI Bill of Rights" (Servicemen's Readjustment Act)
1959
The Battle of New Orleans, by Johnny Horton, started week number four at the top of the nation’s music
1990
Florida passes a law prohibits wearing a throng bathing suit
1991
Underwater volcano, Mount Didicas, erupts in Phillipines

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

In this puzzle, you’re given clues to some fanciful phrases. In each anser the first syllable is said three times in a row

EX: A very active errand-runner Answer: go-go gofer

1. One who transports a Hawaiian dress
2. Chanteuse at a New York state prison
3. Alpine song about a string toy
4. Crazy cents-off certificate
5. Where stupid, extinct birds lived
6. Likely person to do a French line dance
7. Huge configuration of chocolate candies
8. New England soup for a Chinese dog
9. Very stylish Australian girl
10. Flower made with an error and worn on the lapel

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Answers:
1. Muumuu mover
2. Sing Sing singer
3. Yo-yo yodel
4. Cuckoo coupon
5. Dodo domain or dodo domicile
6. Cancan candidate
7. Bonbon bonfire
8. Chowchow chowder
9. Chi-chi Sheila
10. Boo-boo boutonniere
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Top 100

Geez…I stay of the internet for most of the day, don’t listen to news, and all hell breaks loose. Turns out a reporter has been held captive since November by those Taliban guys in Afghanistan. He escaped today. The capture has been kept quiet by all the press for all this time--to protect him. I have to wonder how his family kept quiet for so long. Iran remained a mess—protests continued—militia is getting more violent. I guess the reporter story shows us patience can/does bring a good outcome when dealing with terrorists.

On a lighter note, NPR released a list of the top 100 Folk Songs of all time. I went through the list and certainly had some good memories. I was a big folk music fan when it was on Top 40 radio. Always a good message, always a great tune. Woody, Arlo, PPM, Pete, Bob, John D, S &G, and Gordon always took some of my coin. I enjoyed the Kingston Trio, the Carter Family and the Weavers, but their peak was just a little before my time so I didn’t spend a lot on them, but did enjoy them. At various times, I did see Arlo Guthrie. Peter, Paul & Mary, John Denver and Simon & Garfunkel live in concert in Colorado. PPM were to play at Red Rocks—a huge red rock natural amphitheater just outside Denver. About 30 minutes before the sunset concert was to start, the rain came instead. They moved the concert to a large indoor venue about an hour away. We all loaded up, drove to the indoor venue and saw them. They started about 10pm and sang until well past midnight. We really got our money’s worth and more. Had they played at Red Rocks, we would have gotten about 90 minutes.

I’m not a big letter writer, but a few months ago, I did write to our Representative—Ann Kirkpatrick—to let her know I supported a change in health care. She sent me an answer. My letter was sent via email, but she answered by snail mail. As usual it was a form letter that could have gone out to anybody. The snail mail letter was not expected. What pissed me off is that I signed the email “Charlie Frazier III”. The letter came back addressed to “Charlie Frazier Iii”. I still hold pride that I am the third. I still get pissed off when some computer auto corrects it to ‘Iii’. I don’t even know what ‘Iii’ means. I doubt Ann or any of her staff knows either. It is just sloppiness.
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Random Fact
Connecticut and Rhode Island never ratified the 18th Amendment (Prohibition)

June is…

Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 21
Carpenter Ant Awareness Week
National Mosquito Control Awareness Week
National Old Time Fiddler’s Week

June 21—172nd day of the year…193 days remain in 2009

Summer Solstice Litha
Father’s Day
Baby Boomers Recognition Day
World Handshake Day
World Humanist Day

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1732
Martha Washington 1st, 1st lady
1905
Jean-Paul Sartre France, philosopher/writer (Nobel 1964; declined)
1921
Jane Russell Bemidji, MN, actress full-figured gal (The Outlaw)
1922
Judy Holliday NYC, comedienne/actress
1925
Maureen Stapleton Troy NY, actress
1932
Lalo (Boris) Schifrin Buenos Aires Argentina, composer
1933
Bernie Kopell NYC, actor (Love Boat)
1938
Ron Ely Hereford Tx, actor (Tarzan)
1947 --hmmm
Meredith Baxter-Birney Ca, actress (Family Ties)
Michael Gross Chicago Ill, actor (Family Ties)
1953
Benazir Bhutto 1st female leader of a Moslem nation (Pakistan)

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
1607
1st Protestant Episcopal parish in America established, Jamestown
1788
US Constitution goes into effect as NH is 9th to ratify
1834
Cyrus Hall McCormick patents reaping machine
1856
Today the non-hostile Indians along the lower Rogue River, and at Fort Orford, in southwestern Oregon, are put on a boat to be moved to a new reservation between the Pacific Ocean, and the Wallamet River. It will be called the Grande Ronde Reservation.
1877
Ten members of the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irish immigrant coal miners, are executed for their roles in a violent coal strike in Pennsylvania.
1879
F W Woolworth opens 1st store (failed almost immediately)
1917
Hawaiian Red Cross founded
1942
General Erwin Rommel takes control of British Allied garrison at Tobruk, Libya, taking more than 30,000 prisoners
1989
Supreme Court rules ok to burn US flag as a political expression

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

Every answer in this puzzle is a hyphenated word or a familiar two[=word phrase that contains the consecutive letters N-E-W with N-E ending the first part and W starting the second

EX: Periodic oscillation in physics Answer: sine Wave

1. Street sign with an arrow
2. Common property barrier in New England
3. Riesling or Mosel e.g.
4. Famous old stock brokerage
5. Man who prefers to live and work by himself
6. Actress who won Oscar for “The Three Faces of Eve” and who married Paul Newman
7. To clean clothes, but not by hand
8. Noted African-American congresswoman from Ca
9. Female doctor in the old west
10. It hangs from pole to pole and carries messages.

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Answers:
1. One Way
2. Stone wall
3. Rhine wine or fine wine
4. Paine Webber
5. Lone wolf
6. Joanne Woodard
7. Machine wash
8. Maxine Waters
9. Medicine woman
10. Telephone wire
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Happy Weekend

The weekend is here. The clouds are still here. What a strange June we are having. This should be the time of sunshine, heat, and a drying forest—waiting for the monsoons. This year, it has been cloudy, cool, and strange. Maybe our many-year drought is ending.

I have never enjoyed shopping for groceries. Narrow aisles, stuff in the aisles. But today I went to Albertson’s to pick up some sale items…yeah a cherry picker. Well, it takes a degree in grocery shopping to find their sale items. If you buy 10 from list one, the final price is 75 cents each. If you buy 10 from list 2, the final price is $1 each. If you buy 10 from list 3, the final price is $1.50 each. The ad has lots of pictures of stuff that fit in each list. So as you shop, you see all these tags. I don’t need 10 of anything, but since there are about 20 items on each list, I do find stuff I need. My problem was keeping count of how many from each list I had bought. To really save money, it has to be 10 from the list. I did notice that there were several other shoppers, holding the ad and searching out the items. I did get a lot of stuff I needed, and I did save a lot of money. But my brain was exhausted when I got to the checkout. The computer was able to figure it all out, even if I didn’t. I decided that if I ever attempt this sale shopping again, I will do one of two things…1: get a cart, find the stuff on List one I need. Then start over at the first aisle and find the stuff on list 2 and so on. This would require 3 or 4 trips down every aisle—but good exercise I guess. 2: somehow divide the cart into five sections…one section for each list, and one section for stuff not on sale that I need. How to divide the cart will be a challenge. Maybe I will just get several carts. I have to wonder who came up with this crazy shopping experience. It has to be a computer nerd who never shops for groceries.

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Random Fact
Natural gas has no smell. The odor is artificially added so that people will be able to identify leaks and take measures to stop them.

June is…
Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 14
Flag Week
Men’s Health Week
Meet a Mate Week


June 19—171st day of the year…194 days remain in 2009
Vinegar Day
World Refugee Day
World Juggling Day
International Surfing Day—on the water, not the web

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1674
Nicholas Rowe England, poet laureate (Jane Shore, Tamerlane)
1868
Helen Miller Shepard philanthropist/established Hall of Fame
1909
Errol Flynn actor
1920
DeForest Kelley Atlanta Ga, actor (Dr Leonard McCoy-Star Trek)
1924
Audie Murphy Kingston Tx, WWII hero/actor
1928
Martin Landau actor (Mission Impossible)
1942
Brian Wilson Inglewood Calif, singer (Beach Boys)
1945
Anne Murray Nova Scotia, Canada, singer
1949
Lionel Richie musician
1952
John Goodman actor (Roseanne)

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
1782
Congress approves Great Seal of US & the eagle as it's symbol
1837
Following the death of her uncle, William IV, Queen Victoria takes the British throne at age 18, beginning a reign of 63 years, the longest in British history
1863
1st bank chartered in US (National Bank of Davenport Iowa)
1893
After a sensational murder trial, Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Mass.
1911
NAACP incorporates (NY)
1960
Federation of Mali (& Senegal) becomes independent of France .

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

Every answer here is a phrase in the form “_____ and _____” where each blank represents a five-letter word. One letter in each word has been changes. What are the phrases?

EX Block and Whine Answer: Black and white

1. Bribe & gloom
2. House & muggy
3. Largo & smell
4. Flash & blond
5. Shout & swept
6. Trick & wield
7. Broad & waver
8. Depth & tapes
9. Poker & fight
10. Peach & quilt

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Answers:
1. Bride & groom
2. Horse & buggy
3. Large & small
4. Flesh & blood
5. Short & sweet
6. Track & field
7. Bread & water
8. Death & taxes
9. Power & light
10. Peace & quiet
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Lesson Learned?

If the Iranian Internal Crisis has taught us anything, it is that Iran, like every other nation in the world, cannot be stereotyped into a nice little box. Not only are there several points of view, even the Mullahs are not standing as one. For those who still believe that Iran = Terrorists, let this be a lesson. The political leaders are not the people. Before a country is attacked, remember that the innocents are the civilian population. There are probably many who support the current government in Iran, but as we see, there are many who do not. It seems the more we learn about a country or culture, those with open minds learn that there are many sides to any story.

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Random Fact
The average human body contains enough iron to make a small nail.

June is…
Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 14
Flag Week
Men’s Health Week
Meet a Mate Week


June 19—170th day of the year…195 days remain in 2009

Juneteenth
World Sauntering Day
Palawan, Philippines: Feast of the Forest

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1556
James VI of Scotland (1567-1625)/James I of England (1603-25)
1623
Blaise Pascal mathematician/physicist/religious writer
1896
Mrs Simpson [Bessie Wallis Warfield), Duchess of Windsor, divorcee
1897
Moses Horowitz--Moe Howard comedian (3 Stooges)
1902
Guy Lombardo London Ontario Canada, orch leader
1903
Henry Louis Gehrig 1st baseman (NY Yankees) "Iron Horse"
1914
Lester Flatt Earl Scrugg's partner
1945
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the nonviolent movement for human rights and the restoration of democracy in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma)
1947
Salman Rushdie novelist
1978
Garfield the Cat animated character "Big fat hairy deal"

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
240 –BC
Eratosthenes estimates circumference of Earth
1767
The Governor of Louisiana issues an order today. The order recognizes the CHITIMACHA Indians, and instructs the commander at Manchac to treat them with proper deference
1846
1st baseball game (Cartwright Rules)-NY Nines 23, Knickerbockers 1
1910
Father's Day celebrated for 1st time (Spokane, Wash)
1931
1st photoelectric cell installed commercially West Haven Ct
1934
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created
1940
"Brenda Starr," 1st cartoon strip by a woman, appears in Chicago
1953
Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, convicted of passing nuclear weapons information to the Soviet Union, are executed
1961
Kuwait regains complete independence from Britain
1977
Pope Paul VI makes 19th-cen bishop John Neumann 1st US male saint

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

Every answer is a word or name with the accented syllable ‘knee’ [in any spelling]
EX: Household blinds Answer: Venetian

1. Swiss city famous for peace talks
2. One of Solumbus’s ships
3. Conductor Arturo
4. “Little” king of early comics
5. Lacking vitality
6. Japanese stock index
7. Actor who starred in “Schindler’s List”
8. Dictator Mussolini
9. Not this one or that one
10. Native of the South Seas

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Answers:
1. Geneva
2. Nina
3. Toscanini
4. Nemo
5. Anemic
6. Nickel
7. Nesson
8. Benito
9. Neither
10. Polynesian
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Grandparents

We had another cloudy day here in Flagstaff. Still no moisture…This is so strange. Seems that Seattle Washington, known for rain and clouds, has had 28 straight days without any rain—a record. NYC has had more rain days this year than any time in the last 25 years. A friend in the Colorado Mountains says they too had a wet spring and for the first time in recent memory, aren’t as worried about the BC’s as before. Oh, BC’s are Brainless Campers who don’t know squat about campfires, or cleaning up when they are ready to leave. Three tornados in the Eastern suburbs of Denver were mere blocks from another friend’s home. The Front Range was supposed to prevent tornados in the Denver area—at least that’s what we were taught. This weather change, climate change, global warming thing sure is weird.

Many of my Native friends are now grandparents. Most of my friends are the first generation in their family to graduate from college. I had lunch today with a retired aide, who didn’t complete college, but is more educated than any of her siblings. She is also the only one in her immediate family to work at a job long enough to retire. Anyway, as I visit with so many of these friends, I find that somehow, they raised a lost generation. Many have children who are still financially dependent on their parents. These children are in their late 20’s to their early 40’s. Some still live at home—even at 40. Many of these ‘children’ have had their own children. My friends are now raising those grandkids. Watching a grandma raise her son’s children just doesn’t seem fair. I’m not saying that grandparents shouldn’t be there for their children and grandchildren. I just think there are way too many children who just assume that their parents will always provide for them and have no vision of living on their own. My friend has a home in Tuba. She is renting a three bedroom apartment here in Flag, because her two kids want to live here. Now the two kids and three grandkids want to live in Phoenix, so grandma is seriously considering moving to Phoenix. In her younger days, she lived in Phoenix, working at Phoenix Indian School. She hated it. She had no kids back then, and didn’t start her single parent family until she returned to Tuba. Now that she has retired, she will probably return to a city she hates, just so she can help her 27 year old son, his three kids, and her 22 year old daughter find minimum wage jobs while she pays. She doesn’t want to move, but I’ve known her long enough to know she will.

I should mention that all these grandparents grew up in the Boarding School culture. The Boarding School certainly helped many in that generation get the good ol’ American work ethic, and get a decent education. It just left a big hole in their lives. I think many of them are still trying to fill that hole.

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Random Fact
Murder is the only crime that does not increase during the full moon. Theft, disorderly conduct, larceny, armed robbery, assault and battery, and rape all statistically increase dramatically during the full moon.

June is…
Adopt a Shelter Cat Month…Effective Communications Month…Gay & Lesbian Pride Month [National GLBT Month]…Great Outdoors Month…National Accordion Awareness Month…Rebuild Your Life Month…National Candy Month

Week of June 14
Flag Week
Men’s Health Week
Meet a Mate Week

June 18—169th day of the year…196 days remain in 2009

Recess @ Work Day
Autistic Pride Day
United Kingdom: Waterloo Day
Egypt : Evacuation Day

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1877
James Montgomery Flagg illustrator "I want you" recruiting poster
1886
George Mallory England, mountain climber ("because it is there")

1901
Jeanette MacDonald actress/singer
1906
Kay Kyser Rocky Mount NC, orch. leader
1910
E.G. Marshall actor
1942
Paul McCartney rocker, Beatle 1918 Jerome Karle, American biophysicist, crystallographer, and Nobel Prize winner
Roger Ebert film critic

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY…
1583
Richard Martin of London takes out 1st life insurance policy, on William Gibbons
1812 The United States issued a declaration of war on Great Britain. And so began the War of 1812
1815
Battle of Waterloo; Napoleon defeated by Wellington & Blecher
1873
Susan B Anthony fined $100 for attempting to vote for President
1892
Macadamia nuts 1st planted in Hawaii

1934
US Highway planning surveys nationwide authorized
1948
Columbia Records publicly unveiled its new long-playing phonograph record, the 33 1/3
American Library Association adopts the Library Bill of Rights
UN Commission on Human Rights adopts Intl Declaration of Human Rights
1956
Last of foreign troops leaves Egypt
1982
Voting Rights Act of 1965 extended by Senate by 85-8 vote
1986
52 die in plane/helicopter collision over Grand Canyon
1983
Dr. Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space, aboard the space shuttle Challenger.,

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday Puzzler…1987

You are given three word starting with the letters C, P, and R. Name a fourth word that can follow each of these to complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase.

EX: Check, Play, Rule Answer: book (checkbook, playbook, rule book)

1. Cold, permanent, radio
2. Cannon, puff, racquet
3. Candle, pilot, red
4. Checker, peg, running
5. Calling, post, registration
6. Coffee, porter, ranch
7. Court, powder, reading
8. Card, periodic, round
9. Coast, point, rear
10. Cap, pop, ray

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Answers:
1. Wave
2. Ball
3. Light
4. Board
5. Card
6. House
7. Room
8. Table
9. Guard
10. Gun
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