Jan 13, 2012

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

• 1610 - Galileo Galilei discovers Callisto, 4th satellite of Jupiter
• 1854 - Anthony Foss patents accordion
• 1888 - National Geographic Society founded (Washington, DC)
• 1943 - Hitler declares "Total War"
• 1957 - Wham-O Company produces the 1st Frisbee
• 1967 - Rolling Stones appear on Ed Sullivan Show

♫Happy Birthday To: ♫                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Busy afternoon…I had lunch with Mary. Cheryl had vehicle problems and we weren’t able to hook up. Mary has on-line Netflix connected to her TV. Sounds great!!!. I did a quick recap of Merida weekend. Good food, good conversation.

This afternoon I took a little over 3 hours to hook up Martha’s computer and printer. Not bad…still have a little more to do. The new MacBooks are pretty awesome.

Sure glad I was busy, as it was chilly all day and not a great day to be outside. Greg called and the t-shirt will be worked on again on Tuesday….very cool.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Every answer is a six-letter word or phrase that contains the consecutive letters S-B. For example, given the clue "comic Bill and others," the answer would be "Cosbys."

1.     Capital of Portugal: Lisbon

2.     ‘White Christmas’ singer: Crosby

3.     Old walled section of Algiers: Kasbah

4.     ‘Great’ character of literature: Gatsby

5.     __ park NJ: Asbury Park

6.     One who talks and talks: gas bag

7.     A clearer of dishes in a restaurant: bus boy

8.     In Spiderman, Parker’s closest friend Harry ____: Osborn

9.     To elapse: pass by

10.  Composer of Brandenburg Concerto: J. S. Bach

11.  GI Joe toy maker: Hasbro

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance      

AZ Centennial is in 34 days: Did you know?…

•  AZ Land area in square miles, 2010: 113,594.08      of US: 3,531,905.43
•  AZ Persons per square mile, 2010:    56.3                 of US: 87.4

Found on You Tube         

• Bullet for My Valentine [ a heavy metal Welsh band]

Harper’s Index         

• Portion of the increase in US corporate profit margins since 2001 that has come from depressed waged: 3/4

Joke-of-the-day

A mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of a Harley motorcycle when he spotted a well-known heart surgeon in his shop.

The surgeon was there, waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his bike.

The mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey, Doc, can I ask you a question?"

The surgeon a bit surprised, walked over to the mechanic working on the motorcycle. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I open its heart, take valves out, fix 'em, put 'em back in, and when I finish, it works just like new. So how come I get such a small salary and you get the really big bucks, when you and I are doing basically the same work?"

The surgeon paused, smiled and leaned over, and whispered to the mechanic...

"Try doing it with the engine running."

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

Blue smoke from your exhaust may mean your car needs a complete engine overhaul. Black smoke usually means a maladjusted carburetor. White smoke: Ignore it if the engine is cold, but if it keeps up after the engine has warmed, you may have a leaking head gasket.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The 25% of India's population with the highest IQ is bigger than the total population of the U.S. India has more honors students than the U.S. has students period.
• One in five adults in the developing world - almost 862 million people - cannot read or write.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

ALBURTIS, Pa. - A Pennsylvania 19-year-old who spent his morning pleading guilty to escape and stalking charges spent his evening being sworn in as a public official.Kyle Bower, 19, pleaded guilty to the charges Wednesday in a Lehigh County court and, after being sentenced to probation, was sworn in to the position on the Alburtis Borough Council he was elected to in November, the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call reported Thursday.
"You've been given a great responsibility here," council President Steven Hill told Bower.
"Do the best you can and make the borough proud of you."
Bower was arrested in 2010 while drinking alcohol and managed to slip out of his handcuffs and flee the police station. He was arrested again in July after throwing a brick through his ex-girlfriend's window and throwing rocks at his car.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

8-14

• Universal Letter Writing Week
• Home Office Safety and Security Week
• National Vocation Awareness Week

10-13

• International Consumers Electronics Show

11-17

• Cuckoo Dancing Week
• National No-Tillage Week Conference
• National Soccer Coaches of America Week
• International Snowmobile Safety and Awareness Week

Today Is                                                                      

• Make Your Dream Come True Day
• Blame Someone Else Day
• Friday the 13th
• Public Radio Broadcasting Day
• Rubber Duckie Day
• Russia: Old New Year's Eve 
• Togo :Liberation Day (1967 coup)
• Norway: Tyvendedagen (the official end of Yuletide, time to take down the tree)

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1000’s

1099 - Crusaders set fire to Mara Syria

1500’s

1559 - Elizabeth I crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey

1600’s

1630 - Patent to Plymouth Colony issued

1695 - Jonathan Swift ordained an Anglican priest in Ireland

1700’s

1794 - Congress changes US flag to 15 stars & 15 stripes

1800’s

1830 - Great fire in New Orleans thought to be set by rebel slaves

1834 - Joseph Rutherford Walker leaves Monterey, California in route to the east. He will "discover" Walker Pass through the southern Sierra Madre Mountains. This pass will become part of a major emigrant trail to California."

1863 - Thomas Crapper pioneers one-piece pedestal flushing toilet

1900’s

1927 - US & Mexico battle over oil interests

1929 - Humanist Society established, Hollywood

1930 - "Mickey Mouse" comic strip 1st appears

1954 - Milt rule in Egypt; 318 Mohammedan Brotherhood arrested

1958 - US newspaper "Daily Worker" ceases publication

1966 - 1st black selected for pres cabinet (LBJ selects Robert C Weaver-HUD)

1976 - Sarah Caldwell is 1st woman to conduct at NY's Metropolitan Opera House as she led orchestra in a performance of "La Traviata"

1985 - 99-yr-old Otto Bucher scores a hole-in-one at Spanish golf course

1985 - Express train derails in Ethiopia, kills at least 428

1986 - NCCA institutes eligibility requirements based on college exams

1988 - Supreme Court rules (5-3) public school officials have broad powers to censor school newspapers, plays & other expressive activities

1989 - "Friday the 13th" virus strikes hundreds of IBM computers in Britain

2000’s

2000 - Microsoft chairman Bill Gates steps aside as chief executive and promotes company president Steve Ballmer to the position

2007 - Two thirds of the Venus's southern hemisphere suddenly brightened as something triggered aerosols to form at a furious rate

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 30’s

Orlando Bloom actor is 35

Jason James, Welsh musician (Bullet for My Valentine) is 31

Michael Peña, American actor is 36

In their 40’s

Patrick Dempsey, actor is 46

Nicole Eggert, actor is 40

In their 50’s

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, comedienne (SNL, Seinfeld, Soul Man, Troll) is 51

Mark Francis O'Meara, PGA golfer (1984 Greater Milw) is 55

In their 60’s

Richard Moll, actor (Night Court, House, Dungeonmaster, Survivor) is 69

In their 70’s

Rip Taylor, comedian (Gong Show, $1.98 Beauty Show) is 78

In their 80’s

1930 - Frances Sternhagen, actress (Outland, Starting Over, and TV) is 82

Remembered for being born on this day

Horatio Alger Jr, author (Lost at Sea, Work & Win) in 1834

Army Archerd, Hollywood columnist/TV host (Movie Game) in 1919

Mark Alexander Boyd, Scottish poet in 1562

Salmon P Chase, (Sen) cabinet member, 6th chief justice on $10,000 bill  in 1808

Jan J Goyen, Dutch landscape painter in 1596

Charles Nelson Reilly, actor (Match Game, Ghost & Mrs Muir) in 1931

Robert Stack, actor (Eliot Ness-Untouchables, Airplane) in 1919

Brandon Tartikoff, TV exec (NBC) in 1949

Sophie Tucker, [Kalish], Russia, singer/last of red hot mammas in 1884

Today’s Obits                                                           

John H. D. Anderson, Scottish scientist and inventor dies at 70 in 1796

Chiang Ching-huo, president of Taiwan (1978-88), dies of heart failure at 77 in 1988

Schuyler Colfax,American Vice President dies at 62 in 1885

Wyatt Earp, US marshall (OK Corral), dies at 80 in 1929

George Fox, founder of Quakers, dies at 66 in 1691

James Joyce, novelist (Ulysses), complications of perforated ulcer at 58 in 1941

Patrick McGoohan, American actor at 81 in 2009

Danny Oakes, racecar driver at 96 in 2007

Teddy Pendergrass, American R&B singer dies of respiratory failure at 59 in 2010Alexander Stepanovich Popov, Russian physicist dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 49 in 1906

Carol Wayne, Johnny Carson's teatime movie hostess, dies on beach at 42 in 1985

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

• Bronze
• Scherzo
• Organize
• Memorize
• Vaporize
• Howitzer

     Theme word: Vanish

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Capital of Portugal: Lisbon

2.     ‘White Christmas’ singer: Crosby

3.     Old walled section of Algiers: Kasbah

4.     ‘Great’ character of literature: Gatsby

5.     __ park NJ: Asbury Park

6.     One who talks and talks: gas bag

7.     A clearer of dishes in a restaurant: bus boy

8.     In Spiderman, Parker’s closest friend Harry ____: Osborn

9.     To elapse: pass by

10.  Composer of Brandenburg Concerto: J. S. Bach

11.  GI Joe toy maker: Hasbro

Wuzzle

• Fatten up
• Odd jobs
• Cross over the border

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.

All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.

☺    And That Is All for Now  ☺

Jan 12, 2012

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1808 - The organizational meeting that led to the creation of the Wernerian Natural History Society, a former Scottish learned society, is held in Edinburgh

1863 - President Davis delivers his "State of Confederacy" address

1864 -The Navajo have been ordered to move to the Bosque Redondo Reservation in New Mexico. Many who decide not to go move to the Canyon de Chelly. Kit Carson has been directed to force the Navajo to move or to be killed as "hostiles". Carson and Captain Pfeiffer advance to the canyon. On this date, Carson enters the west end of the canyon. They encounter a band of Navajo, and kill 11 of them. While in the canyon, Carson will order the burning of the Navajo food and cherished peach trees.

1945 - German forces in Belgium retreat in Battle of Bulge

1952 - University of Tennessee admits its 1st black student

1970 - Biafran War ends, Biafra surrenders to Nigeria

1975 - Chrysler Corp offers 1st car rebates

2010 - Earthquake occurs in Haiti killing 230,000 and destroying the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince

♫Happy Birthday To: ♫                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Sad news today—the 15+ yr old German Shepherd that came with the Hacienda and was a great party animal—had to be put down. Thankfully Cyndy and Laura were there with her until the very end. Hard to lose a pet, but better to be there than get a phone call to figure out what to do when she got sick at 2:30 this morning.

Geek skills failed today as I tried to hook up Martha’s new printer. After a 20 minute download the drivers wouldn’t work for her old computer. She and I went to Best Buy and she got a new MacBook. I’m headed to her home tomorrow afternoon to get it set up…knock on wood.

Ran some errands this afternoon. Safeway was not even busy…nice. Weather is nice. Good to be back in Flag for a little while.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

You are given some words and names from a specific category and must name something else in the category that can be spelled from the letters in the clue. For example, given "Dodge," the answer would be "Geo." Both are cars, and "Geo" can be formed from the letters of "Dodge."

1.     Grape: 4 letters: pear

2.     Stockholm: 4 letters: Oslo

3.     Yum Kippur: 5 letters: Purim

4.     Grackle: 4 letters: lark

5.     Cherokee: 5 letters: Creek

6.     Boa constrictor: 5 letters: cobra

7.     Cather: 5 letters: Heart (Bret)

8.     Maple: 3 and 4 letter : elm, palm

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance      

AZ Centennial is in 33 days: Did you know?…

• The state's most popular natural wonders include the Grand Canyon, Havasu Canyon, Grand Canyon Caves, Lake Powell/Rainbow Bridge, Petrified Forest/Painted Desert, Monument Valley, Sunset Crater, Meteor Crater, Sedona Oak Creek Canyon, Salt River Canyon, Superstition Mountains, Picacho Peak State Park, Saguaro National Park, Chiricahua National Monument, and the Colorado River.
• No one is permitted to ride their horse up the stairs of the county court house in Prescott, Arizona.
• Once a rowdy copper mining town, Jerome's population dwindled to as few as 50 people after the mines closed in 1953.
• The capital of the Navajo Nation is Window Rock.

Found on You Tube         

 Returns tomorrow

Harper’s Index         

• Percentage of profits American corporations paid in taxes in 1961: 40.6

Today: 10.5

Joke-of-the-day

A young bride tells her friend, “Paul keeps telling everyone he’s going to marry the most beautiful girl in the world.”

 “ What a shame! And after all the time you’ve been engaged!”

n               Bonus

Building Security has notified us that there have been 5 suspected terrorists working at our office. Four of the five have been apprehended. Bin Sleeping, Bin Loafing, Bin Gossiping, and Bin Surfing have been taken into custody. Security advised us that they could find no one fitting the description of the fifth cell member, Bin Working, in the office. Police are confident that anyone who looks like Bin Working will be very easy to spot. They thought they had apprehended Bin Working sitting at a desk, but it was actually Bin Surfing trying to impersonate Bin Working.

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

• If you haven't left the ground in the first half of the runway, abort the takeoff.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Play-Doh originally began as an all white wallpaper cleaning compound known as Kutol Wall Cleaner.
• In 1955, the detergents were removed and the company was renamed Rainbow Crafts. Color was added and the compound became known as Play-Doh.
• Once Play-Doh was reformulated into a children's modeling compound, it was originally sold in one gallon cans with its color indicated on the lid. It wasn't until a year after its debut that the smaller cans were made available to the public.
• Play-Doh is available in 75 different countries. Hasbro sells approximately 95 million cans annually.
• Unable to afford a national marketing campaign, Rainbow Crafts formed an informal deal with Bob Keeshan, know to children as Captain Kangaroo, to have Play-Doh featured on his show twice a week. In return, Bob's production company received a 2 percent cut of Play-Doh's sales.
• In 1960, Play-Doh Pete, a boy garbed in a beret and artist's smock, was introduced as the modeling clay's mascot. Today, Pete graces cans of Play-Doh wearing a backwards baseball cap and a t-shirt.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

Police have cited a man for disorderly conduct for allegedly chaining himself inside his car while parked outside a western Pennsylvania drug store and dressed as a woman.

Police were called to a Walgreen's store about 11:20 p.m. when someone reported seeing the 28-year-old man chained inside the car.

When police arrived, the man told them he had restrained himself because he had come to buy his wife a drink at the store, but found it difficult to work up the courage to enter the store dressed as a woman. A police report says the suspect chained himself "to build himself up to going into the store dressed like a woman."

The man his charged with disorderly conduct "for causing a public alarm."

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

8-14

• Universal Letter Writing Week
• Home Office Safety and Security Week
• National Vocation Awareness Week

10-13

• International Consumers Electronics Show

11-17

• Cuckoo Dancing Week:
• National No-Tillage Week Conference
• National Soccer Coaches of America Week
• International Snowmobile Safety and Awareness Week

Today Is                                                                      

• Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day
• Tanzania: Zanzibar Revolution Day (1964)

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1400’s

1493 - Last day for all Jews to leave Sicily

1500’s

1583 - Holland begins use of Gregorian calendar (yesterday was 1/1/1583)

1600’s

1684 - French king Louis XIV marries Madame Maintenon

1700’s

1723 - Handel's opera "Ottone" premieres, London

1773 - 1st US public museum established (Charlestown SC)

1800’s

1803 - The Seneca treaty of June 30, 1802 is ratified, and publicly proclaimed.

1812 - 1st cargo arrives in New Orleans by steam, from Natchez

1820 - Royal Astronomical Society founded in England

1879 - British Zulu War begins: Lt-General Chelmsford invades Zululand

1900’s

1903 - Harry Houdini performs at Rembrandt Theater, Amsterdam

1948 - 1st Supermarket in UK opens

1949 - "Arthur Godfrey & His Friends" premieres on CBS TV

1958 - NCAA adds 2 point conversion to football scoring

1960 - Syracuse National Dolph Schayes is 1st NBA'er to score 15,000 points

1965 - "Hullabaloo" premieres on NBC-TV

1966 - "Batman" with Adam West & Burt Ward premieres on ABC TV

1967 - Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation

1969 - Superbowl III: NY Jets beat Balt Colts, 16-7 in Miami Superbowl MVP: Joe Namath, NY Jets, QB

1971 - "All in the Family" premieres on CBS featuring 1st toilet flush on TV

1971 - Fed grand jury indicts Rev Philip Berrigan & 5 others, including a nun & 2 priests, on charges of plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger

1975 - Superbowl IX: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Minnesota Vikings, 16-6 in New Orleans Superbowl MVP: Franco Harris, Pittsburgh, RB

1981 - "Dynasty", a prime time soap opera inspired by Dallas, premieres on ABC

1989 - Idi Amin expelled from Zaire

2000’s

2006 - A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 40’s

Rob Zombie, musician is 46

In their 50’s

Kirstie Alley, actor is  57

Oliver Platt, actor is 52

Howard Stern, radio personality is 58

Dominique Wilkins, NBA forward (Atlanta Hawks) is 52

In their 60’s

Drew Pearson, former NFL all-pro receiver is 61

Rush Limbaugh, American right wing radio personality is 61

Ricky Van Shelton, country musician is 60

In their 80’s

Ray Price, country singer (Good Times) is 86

Glenn Yarborough, singer (Limeliters-Honey & Wine, Baby the Rain Must Fall ) is 82

Remembered for being born on this day

Long John Baldry, England, blues vocalist (Don't try to Lay No Boogie) in 1941

A P[ieter] W Botha, Orange Free State, president of South Africa in 1916

Joe Frazier, HW boxer (Olympic-gold-1964)/champ (1968-73) in 1944

John Hancock, patriot (1st to sign Declaration of Independence) in 1737

Ira Hayes, Pima Marine of Iwo Jima photo fame in 1923

Jack London, writer/socialist (Call of the Wild) in 1876

Tex Ritter, country singer (5 Star Jubilee, Wayward Wind) in 1906

Henny Youngman, comedian (Take my wife please...) in 1906

Today’s Obits                                                           

Agatha Christie, mystery writer (10 Little Indians), dies at 85 in 1976

Ernie Kovacs, comedian (Ernie Kovacs Show), killed in auto crash at 42 in 1962

Walt Morey, US children's book writer (Gentle Ben), dies at 84 in 1992

Laurence J Peter, author (Peter Principle), dies of a stroke at 70 in 1990

Isaac Pitman, British inventor (Pitman Shorthand) dies at 84 in 1897

Ruth Snyder, 1st woman to die in electric chair (killed husband) dies at 33 in 1928

Cyrus Vance, 57th U.S. Secretary of State dies at 85 in 2002

Hiram Walker, American distiller dies at 82

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Grape: 4 letters: pear

2.     Stockholm: 4 letters: Oslo

3.     Yum Kippur: 5 letters: Purim

4.     Grackle: 4 letters: lark

5.     Cherokee: 5 letters: Creek

6.     Boa constrictor: 5 letters: cobra

7.     Cather: 5 letters: Heart (Bret)

8.     Maple: 3 and 4 letter : elm, palm

Wuzzle

• Boxers
• Double or nothing
• Slightly mixed up

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.

All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.

☺    And That Is All for Now  ☺