May 13

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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1637 - Cardinal Richelieu of France creates the table knife

1888 - DeWolf Hooper 1st recited "Casey at Bat"

1950 - Diner's Club issues its 1st credit cards

1958 - Rioters attack US VP Nixon in Venezuela

1979 - Shah & family sentenced to death in Teheran

1985 - Carlton Fisk becomes 5th catcher to steal 100 bases

1992 - 3 astronauts simultaneous walked in space for the 1st time

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

An interesting spring day…started out nice and clear, and then the clouds came in but alas, no rain. Still a nice day overall. Stayed around the house and deck today. So nice to enjoy our beautiful spring weather.

One room down, three to go. I rearranged my bedroom this morning. It is time for a change and soon I’ll do the living room, back room, and office. In my younger days I did this a lot more often, but now it seems like such a lot of work. It really isn’t, but just seems that way. Always good to make some change.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Given two words change one letter in each of them to make two new words that rhyme. For example, given "pulse" and "verge," the answer would be "purse" and "verse."

1.      Crown, prude:

2.     Chance, mango:

3.     Suits, green:

4.     Heart, worn:

5.     Theme, flail:

6.     Boughs, tact:

7.     Tartan, chapter:

Riddle of the day

The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?

Anagram: unscramble—numbers represent the number of letters in each answer word

Lifestyle  Substance     

Harper’s Index         

Number of tickets Virgin Galactic h ssold for space flight it hopes to begin launching by the end of the year: 460

Found on You Tube 

The Make Believe World of Daphne du Maurier      

Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day

Places I have and have not been. I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots – as I recall.
Apparently, you can't go alone.  You have to be in Cahoots with someone.
I've also never been in Cognito.  I hear no one recognizes you there.
I have, however, been in Sane.  They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there.
I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.
I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.
I have also been in Doubt.  That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.
I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm. Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.
One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense!
It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart!
At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!
And, sometimes I think I am in Vincible but life shows me I am not!
I have been in Deep shit many times.  The older I get, the easier it is to get there.

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

In the colder parts of the country, you will often find caves in areas where the soil is red.

Yeah, It Really Happened

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Authorities in South Carolina said a motorist was pulled over for an anatomically correct pair of false testicles hanging from his truck's rear bumper. The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office incident report said the deputy pulled the silver truck over Sunday evening due to the flesh-colored decoration hanging from the bumper and the motorist agreed to remove the faux testicles, the Spartanburg Herald-Journal reported Tuesday. The driver, who moved to South Carolina from Mexico about six months ago, was arrested and charged with driving without a license. He was also issued a warning for the "obscene display."

               

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Eugene O'Neill wrote three Pulitzer Prize-winning plays during the 1920s: Beyond the Horizon (1920), Anna Christie (1922), and Strange Interlude (1928). During the 1930s, however, O'Neill's popularity began to fade. Subjected to closer scrutiny be a new generation of critics, obscurity began to settle on America's first great playwright and deepened more and more until his death in 1953.

• Eugene Ionesco did not write his first play until, at the age of 40, he adapted a play from an English primer that he had acquired in order to learn English. The Bald Soprano, staged by Nicolas Bataille on May 11, 1950, went unnoticed until a few established writers and critics launched a campaign to bring attention to Ionesco's play. In 1949,

• Arthur Miller won the Pulitzer Prize for Death of a Salesman.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

7-13

Children's Book Week

Dating and Life Coach Recognition Week

National Correctional Officer's Week

National Stuttering Awareness Week

Teacher Appreciation Week

Work At Home Moms Week

10-16

Universal Family Week

12-19 

National Tourism Week

National Nursing Home Week

Reading is Fun Week

Salute to Moms 35+ Week

National Return To Work Week

National Women's Health Week

American Craft Beer Week

National Bike to Work Week

National Etiquette Week

National Hospital Week

Today Is                                                                      

Blame Someone Else Day

Frog Jumping Day

Leprechaun Day

Mother's Day

Rural Life Sunday

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1100’s

1110: Crusaders march into Beirut causing a bloodbath

à

1500’s

1540: Hernando de Soto leaves Cofitachequi. He takes the "Lady of Cofitachequi" with him, against her will

1600’s

1614: The Viceroy of Mexico finds Spanish Explorer Juan de Oñate guilty of atrocities against the Indians of New Mexico. As a part of his punishment, he is banned from entering New Mexico again

1643: Heavy earthquake strikes Santiago Chile; kills 1/3 of population

à

1800’s

1828: US passes Tariff of Abominations designed to protect industry in the northern United States

1846: US declares war on Mexico, 2 months after fighting begins

1882: Toba-Indians of South America killed 20 members of French expedition

1900’s

1916: 1st observance of Indian (Native American) Day

1930: Farmer killed by hail in Lubbock, Texas only known fatality due to hail

1934: Great dustbowl storm

1954: The anti-National Service Riots, by Chinese Middle School students in Singapore, take place

1958: Jordan & Iraq form Arab Federation

1959: Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle, last airs on NBC-TV

1965: Several Arab nations break ties with West Germany after it established diplomatic relations with Israel

1966: Federal education funding is denied to 12 school districts in the South because of violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act

1982: Braniff Airlines files for bankruptcy

1989: Approx 2,000 students begin hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, China

1992: Final episode of "Night Court" airs on NBC-TV

1993: CBS' Knots Landing ends 14 year run with 334th show in Netherlands

2000’s

2006: São Paulo violence: a major rebellion occurs in several prisons in Brazil

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Remembered for being born on this day

Beatrice Arthur, American actress(Maude, Dorothy-Golden Girls) in 1922

Jim Jones, reverend, poisoned over 100 in Guyana ( Jonestown Massacre) in 1931

Joe Louis, world heavyweight boxing champion (1937-49) in 1914

Daphne du Maurier, English writer (Rebecca, Parasites) in 1907

Ronald Ross, England, pathologist (Nobel 1902) in 1857

Jim Shoulders, Champion rodeo cowboy in 1928

Henry William (Baron) Stiegel, early American glassmaker in 1729

Arthur Seymour Sullivan, London England, composer (Gilbert & Sullivan: I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General) in 1842

Ritchie Valens, singer (Donna, La Bamba) in 1941

In their 70’s

Harvey Keitel, actor (Taxi Driver, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs) is 73

In their 60’s

Magic Dick, [Richard Salwitz], harmonicaist (J Geils Band-Centerfold) is 67

Stevie Wonder, Saginaw, Michigan, American singer-songwriter (You are the Sunshine of My Love) is 62

In their 50’s

Dennis Rodman, Hall of Fame basketball player is 51

In their 40’s

Stephen Colbert, American comedian and actor (Colbert Report)is 48

In their 30’s

Robert Pattinson, actor (Cedric Diggory-Harry Potter, Edward Cullen-Twilight)is 26

Today’s Obits                                                           

Dan Blocker, American actor (Hoss-Bonanza), dies of blood clot in 1972 at 43

Gary Cooper, 2 time Academy Award winning actor (High Noon), dies of multiple cancers in 1961 at 60

Selma Diamond, comedienne (Selma-Night Court), dies of cancer in 1985 at 64

Joaquin Garcia, Mexican comic actor, dies of heart attack in 1993 at 71

Charles Edouard Guillaume, Nobel Prize laureate dies in 1938 at 77

Frank McGrath, actor (Wagon Train), dies of heart attack in 1967 at 64

Bob Wills, actor (Lone Prairie), dies of pneumonia in 1975 at 69

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game: Close Up Picture

Riddle of the day

Your footsteps

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      Crown, prude: croon, prune
2.     Chance, mango: change mange
3.     Suits, green: sweet greet
4.     Heart, worn: herd, word
5.     Theme, flail: there, flair
6.     Boughs, tact: bought, taught
7.     Tartan, chapter: Carter, charter

Anagrams

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  ☺

May 12

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

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1792: Toilet that flushes itself at regular intervals is patented

1870: Manitoba becomes a province of Canada

1928: Benito Mussolini ends woman's rights in Italy

1930: Pulitzer prize awarded to Marc Connelly (Green Pastures)

1932: Body of kidnapped son of Charles Lindbergh is found in Hopewell NJ

1942: 1,500 Jews gassed in Auschwitz

1978: Commerce Dept says hurricane names will no longer be only female

1984: S African prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife for 1st time in 22 years

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

It was a great day to be outside. I started looking for some color for my planters in the front…I know it’s a little too early, but it is so nice outside.

I believe that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. Today I was shocked and saddened that a business in Page, AZ (a town only 3 miles from the Rez border) didn’t learn a lesson a few years ago. Back then a local restaurant told its employees that they could not speak Navajo while on the job, unless the customer only understood Navajo. The owner said he spoke English and that was all he wanted to hear. The fairly long court fight had the employees win and get back wages. Now a new manager came into the O’Reilly Auto Parts store in Page and he announced that employees couldn’t speak Navajo in the store. That is headed for court too. The company headquarters wouldn’t comment to the media. I watch this play out along with so many other issues that I thought were settled decades ago. The conservatives seem to believe, ‘it’s my way or the highway’. Women’s issues are included in this…abortion, birth control, women’s health issues, equal pay…And Romney brushing off his alleged bullying in high school. Why do we have to relive all this?

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Nowadays, the letters IT stand for information technology. But they're also the initials of some other familiar two-word phrases and names. You name them from the clues.

1.      Cause of pain at the end of the foot:

2.     Two children developed from the same egg:

3.     The IRS collects it:

4.     Cold summer drink:

5.     Stanford Benet is the most common:

6.     Fraud that may involve your SS number:

7.     12 time NBA star who went on to coach Pacers:

8.     It slants to the right:

9.     Court game often played in winter under artificial light:

10.  It might end or else:

Riddle of the day

There were five men going to church and it started to rain. The four that ran got wet and the one that stood still stayed dry.

Anagram: unscramble—numbers represent the number of letters in each answer word

Lifestyle  Substance     

Harper’s Index         

Chances an American thinks it is at least ‘partly true’ that secret government planes release chemicals in the air: 1 in 7

Found on You Tube 

Ten Commandments - by George Carlin       

Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day

A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport. After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
Welcome to Flight Number 293, non-stop from New York to Los Angeles. The weather ahead is good and, therefore, we should have a smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax - OH, MY G-D!" Silence followed, and after a few minutes the captain came back on the intercom and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier; but, while I was talking, the flight attendant brought me a cup of coffee and spilled the hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!"
A passenger in Coach said, "That's nothing. He should see the back of mine!"

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

Aircraft carriers get six inches to the gallon.

Yeah, It Really Happened

MIAMI (AP) -- The orangutans at Miami's Jungle Island apparently are just like people when it comes to technology. The park is one of several zoos experimenting with computers and apes, letting its six orangutans use an iPad to communicate and as part of a mental stimulus program. Linda Jacobs, who oversees the program, hopes the devices will eventually help bridge the gap between humans and the endangered apes.The 8-year-old twins love their iPad. They draw, play games and expand their vocabulary. Their family's teenagers also like the hand-held computer tablets, too, but the clan's elders show no interest."Our young ones pick up on it. They understand it. It's like, `Oh I get this,'" Jacobs said. "Our two older ones, they just are not interested. I think they just figure, `I've gotten along just fine in this world without this communication-skill here and the iPad, and I don't need a computer.'"Jacobs said she began letting the orangutans use iPads last summer, based on the suggestion of someone who had used the devices with dolphins. The software was originally designed for humans with autism and the screen displays pictures of various objects. A trainer then names one of the objects, and the ape presses the corresponding button.Richard Zimmerman, executive director of Orangutan Outreach, said he's building an "Apps For Apes" program with old, donated iPads at facilities throughout North America, though Jungle Island isn't part of that group. Orangutan Outreach started working with the Milwaukee County Zoo and then expanded to zoos in Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Toronto, Houston and elsewhere. They're hoping to use a video-conferencing program to reconnect orangutans with friends and family members who have been transferred to other zoos, he said.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• A recent study indicates when men crave food, they tend to crave fat and salt. When women crave food, they tend to desire chocolate.

• Aztec emperor Montezuma drank 50 golden goblets of hot chocolate every day. It was thick, dyed red and flavored with chili peppers.

• Bittersweet chocolate is what is usually called for in baking. It contains more chocolate liquor (at least 35%) and less sugar than sweet chocolate. Semisweet chocolate contains 15% - 35% chocolate liquor.

• Chocolate syrup was used for blood in the famous 45 second shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's movie, Psycho, which actually took 7 days to shoot.

• Chocolate was introduced into the United States in 1765 when cocoa beans were brought from the West Indies to Dorchester, Massachusetts.

• The melting point of cocoa butter is just below the human body temperature -- which is why it literally melts in your mouth.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

6-12

Anxiety & Depression Awareness Week

Be Kind To Animals Week

Dystonia Awareness Week

Children's Mental Health Week

Choose Privacy Week

Drinking Water Week

Flexible Work Arrangement Week

Goodwill Industries Week

International Wildlife Film Week

Kids Win Week

NAOSH Week

National Alcohol & Drug Related Birth Defects Awareness Week National

National Family Week

National Hug Holiday Week

National Nurses Day and Week

National Occupational Safety & Health Day

National Pet Week

National Raisin Week

National Wildflower Week

North American Occupational Safety & Health Week

PTA Teacher Appreciation Week

7-13

Children's Book Week

Dating and Life Coach Recognition Week

National Correctional Officer's Week

National Stuttering Awareness Week

Teacher Appreciation Week

Work At Home Moms Week

10-16

Universal Family Week

12-19 

National Tourism Week

National Nursing Home Week

Reading is Fun Week

Salute to Moms 35+ Week

National Return To Work Week

National Women's Health Week

American Craft Beer Week

National Bike to Work Week

National Etiquette Week

National Hospital Week

Today Is                                                                      

Birthmother's Day

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Awareness Day

Hug Your Cat Day

International Migratory Bird Day

International Nurses Day

Letter Carrier's Food Drive Day [20^th year]

Limerick Day

a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem, especially one in five-line anapestic or amphibrachic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century. It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century.

A flea and a fly in a flue,

Were trapped and knew not what to do,

'Let us flee', said the fly,

'Let us fly', said the flea,

So they flew through a flaw in the flue.

Mother Ocean Day

National Babysitters Day

National Miniature Golf Day

National Nutty Fudge Day

National Train Day
National Windmill Day

Odometer Day

Stay Up All Night

World Belly Dance Day

World Fair Trade Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1500’s

1588: Catholic League under duke Henri de Guise occupies Paris

à

1700’s

1777: 1st ice cream advertisement (Philip Lenzi-NY Gazette)

1800’s

1860: A battle in the Paiute War takes place in Nevada at Big Bend in the valley of the Truckee River. Major William Ormsby’s Nevada militia are attacked by Paiutes under war Chief Numaga.

1871: Segregated street cars integrated in Louisville, Ky

1900’s

1908: Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented by Nathan B Stubblefield

1928: Opium laws enforced

1937: Coronation of King George VI of Britain at Westminster Abbey

1951: 1st H Bomb test, on Enewetak Atoll

1955: Chicago Cub Sam Jones is 1st black to pitch no-hitter (Pirates, 4-0)

1963: Bob Dylan walks out of the "Ed Sullivan Show"

1965: Israel & West Germany exchange letters beginning diplomatic relations

1982: In Fatima Portugal, a Spanish priest with a bayonet is stopped prior to his attempt to attack Pope John Paul II

1993: Last broadcast of "Cheers" on NBC-TV

1999: David Steel becomes the first Presiding Officer (speaker) of the modern Scottish Parliament

2000’s

2002: Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro's 1959 revolution

2008: 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 69,000 people

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, catcher/coach/manager (NY Yankees, Mets) is 87

à

In their 60’s

Bruce Boxleitner, Elgin Ill, actor (Scarecrow & Mrs King, Babylon 5)is 62

Gabriel Byrne, Dublin Ireland, actor (Hello Again, Cool World) is 62

Steve Winwood, England, rock bassist (A Higher Love ) is 64

In their 50’s

Emilio Estevez, NYC, actor (Breakfast Club, Young Guns, Mighty Ducks) is 50  

Ving Rhames, American actor is 53

In their 40’s

Stephen Baldwin, actor (Beast, Lawrenceville Stories, Usual Suspects) is 46

Kim Fields, LA California, actress (Tootie-Facts of Life)is 43

Tony Hawk, American skateboarder (900 )is 44

In their 30’s

Jason Biggs, actor is 34

Remembered for being born on this day

Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Cosmetics in 1915

George Carlin, Bronx, comedian (7 dirty words, AM & FM, Carwash) in 1937

Leslie Charteris, English/US detective writer (Enter the Saint) in 1907

Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank in 1889

Katharine Hepburn, Hartford CT, actress (Adam's Rib, On Golden Pond) in 1907

Edward Lear, England, landscape painter, (Complete Nonsense Book)in 1812

Henry Cabot Lodge, U.S. statesman in 1850

Florence Nightingale, Florence Italy, nurse (Crimean War) in 1820

Julius Rosenberg, Soviet spy in 1918

Today’s Obits                                                           

Comanche Chief Iron Jacket (Po-hebitsquash) is killed in a fight with Texas Rangers on the Canadian River in 1858 in his late 60’s.

Thomas Lowndes, English astronomer dies in 1748 at about 56

Robert Reed, actor (Brady Bunch), dies of AIDs in 1992 at 59

J E B Stuart, Confederate General, dies in 1864 at Battle of Yellow Tavern at 31

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game: Close Up Picture

Riddle of the day

The man in the coffin stayed dry, the bearers got wet.

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      Cause of pain at the end of the foot: ingrown toenail

2.     Two children developed from the same egg: identical twins

3.     The IRS collects it: income tax

4.     Cold summer drink: iced tea

5.     Stanford Benet is the most common: Intelligence Test

6.     Fraud that may involve your SS number: identity theft

7.     12 time NBA star who went on to coach Pacers: Isaiah Thomas

8.     It slants to the right: italic type

9.     Court game often played in winter under artificial light: indoor tennis

10.  It might end or else: idle threat

  

Anagrams

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  ☺