June 17


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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights
1579 - Anti-English uprising in Ireland
1856 - Republican Party opens its 1st national convention in Philadelphia
1885 - Statue of Liberty arrived in NYC aboard French ship `Isere'
1898 - US Senate agrees to annex Hawaii
1901 - The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT
1963 - Supreme Court rules against Bible reading/prayer in public schools
1972 - 5 arrested for burglarizing Democratic Party HQ at Watergate
1991 - South Africa abolishes last of its apartheid laws
1994 - OJ Simpson doesn't turn himself in on murder charges, LA cops chase his Ford Bronco for 1½ hours, eventually gives up (seen live on TV)

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 
                   
 
Free Rambling Thoughts   
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.

The weather service says that ‘monsoon season’ started yesterday. This used to be based on humidity for a given number of days. Today we had 6% humidity…hardly looking like rain is our near future. It was also pretty warm so the forest just keeps drying out. One has to wonder.

As a fully certified channel surfer I caught some of the walk over Niagara Falls last night.  I had to wonder how many of the people on both shores as well as the number watching live were watching to see a tragedy or watching to see a victory…I guess I will never know as no one asked that question.

Our discussion group has decided to meet a couple of times this summer. We are all busy traveling, but found that this coming Saturday we can meet, so we’ll be discussing ‘cloning…the science…the ethics…the future’.  Should be a good discussion. I have some heavy reading ahead this week.

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)
Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle A Day at the Opera
Every answer in this week's on-air puzzle is the name of an opera. The clues are in the form of anagrams. For example, if the clue is "moan-plus-R," the answer would be "Norma."
1.     Coat + s:
2.     Fats+ u :
3.     Cream + n:
4.     Foiled + i:
5.     Relate + k:
6.     Rotunda + t:
7.     Fireside + g:
8.     Dog handlers + i: (2 words)

What is the answer?
What do the following words have in common?FAST   THROUGH   DOWN   AWAY   WATER   NECK
4X4 Word Boxes
The answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can you solve these Word Boxes? Each answer is 3 letters.
1.     drag
2.     real estate quantity
3.     desire
4.     vegetable
Lifestyle  Substance     
One Hit Wonders of the 1950’s

Harper’s Index         
Number of Predator drones patrolling the US border with Mexico: 6
Found on You Tube 
Cyd Charisse interview       
Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-dayJoe was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business. When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sick father died, he decided he needed a wife with whom to share his fortune.One evening at an investment seminar he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her beauty took his breath away. “I may look like just an ordinary man,” he said to her, “but in just a few years, my father will pass, and I’ll inherit his large fortune.”Impressed, the woman took his business card and three months later, she became Joe’s stepmother.Women are so much better at estate planning than men!!
Rules of Thumb   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
There is one almost infallible way to find honest food at just prices: count the wall calendars in a cafe. No calendar: same as an interstate pit stop. One calendar: preprocessed food assembled in New Jersey. Two calendars: only if fish trophies present. Three calendars: can't miss on the farm-boy breakfasts. Four calendars: try the homemade pie, too. Five calendars: keep it under your hat, or they'll franchise.
Yeah, It Really Happened
STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A 61-year-old Swedish man who was relieving himself in the woods was caught on tape being knocked over by a bear chasing an elk. Ola Akesson said he left his summer cabin in the Angraan nature reserve to urinate in a stream Sunday night when he spotted a baby elk on the opposite side of the water, The Local.se reported Tuesday. "I called to my wife to get out the iPad to film the elk, when all of a sudden she screamed that there was a bear behind me," Akesson said. "I turned around and there was a huge bear right beside me -- maybe half a meter away, I could have reached out and touched it -- but I didn't even have time to think." Akesson was knocked to the ground and the bear, which the couple said they believe was after the elk, barreled into the waterside dock before scrambling back into the woods.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • The first recorded occurrence of the melody that we now sing as "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits" is in an 1899 song by Charles Hale, called "At a Darktown Cakewalk." In 1914, Jimmie Monaco and Joe McCarthy released a song called "Bum-Diddle-De-Um-Bum, That's It!" utilizing those familiar seven notes.
  • "Chopsticks" was published in London in 1877 under the name "The Celebrated Chop Waltz." A 16-year-old girl named Euphemia Allen wrote the song, which has nothing to do with Chinese eating utensils. The song was intended to be played by "chopping" at the keys with the pinky fingers of both hands.
  • The pipe organ that we associate with circus clowns is actually called "Entrance of the Gladiators" and was written in 1897 by the Czech composer Julius Fucik.
  • "Hava Nagila" started out as a wordless tune that was hummed by the Hasidim of Sadigora in what is now the Ukraine. At the turn of the 20th century, a Latvian cantor wrote lyrics to the tune, based on text found in Psalm 118:24.
  • Werner Thomas is the man behind the infamous Chicken Dance. A Swiss accordionist and restauranteur, Thomas wrote a tune called "Der Ententanz" ("The Duck Dance") in his spare time after watching the ducks and geese that gathered outside his diner.
  • The lyrics to "Happy Birthday to You" are copyrighted, and any public performance would require a royalty payment.
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Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
14-21
   Nursing Assistants Week
14-17
   US Open Golf Championship
   Duct Tape Days
17-23
   Universal Father's Week
   Meet A Mate Week
   Old Time Fiddlers Week

Today Is                                                                      
Eat Your Vegetables Day
Family Awareness Day
Father's Day
Husband Caregiver Day
Stewarts Root Beer Day
Watergate Day
World Day To Combat Desertification and Drought

Iceland: Independence Day (1944-from Denmark)  

Today’s Other Events                                                             
1500’s
1565 - Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru
1579 - Francis Drake entered SF Bay
1600’s
1654: In a meeting between the Swedes and the Delaware in Tinicum (New Sweden, Pennsylvania). Delaware Chief Naaman praises the Swedes for their righteous treatment of the native inhabitants
1700’s
1773 - CĂșcuta, Colombia is founded by Juana Rangel de CuĂ©llar
1800’s
1824 - Bureau of Indian Affairs established
1839 - In the Kingdom of Hawaii, Kamehameha III issues the Edict of toleration which gives Roman Catholics the freedom to worship in the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaii Catholic Church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace is later established as a result
1864 - 640m long pontoon bridge over James River Virginia finished
1877 - Indian Wars: Battle of White Bird Canyon - the Nez Perce defeat the US Cavalry at White Bird Canyon in the Idaho Territory
1894 - 1st US poliomyelitis epidemic breaks out, Rutland, Vermont
1900’s
1919 - "Barney Google" cartoon strip, by Billy De Beck, premieres
1939 - Last public guillotining in France. Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is guillotined in Versailles outside the prison Saint-Pierre
1945 - Day of Unity in West Germany (National Day)
1950 - 1st kidney transplant (Chicago) 1953 - Riots in East Germany for reunification
1957 - Tuskegee boycott begins (Blacks boycotted city stores)
1967 - Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park performed
1972 - Five White House plumbers apprehended after second burglary of Democratic Natl HQ, Watergate
1982 - Pres Reagan 1st UN Gen Assembly address ("evil empire" speech)
1986 - Chief Justice Warren Earl Burger resigns Antonin Scalia nominated
1991 - Pres Zachary Taylors body is exhumed to test how he died
2000’s
2008 - First day of legal same-sex marriage in California

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Remembered for being born on this day
Ralph Bellamy, Chicago, actor (Air Mail, Dive Bomber, Trading Places) in 1904
Martin Bormann, propoganda minister (Hitler) in 1900
George Cormack, cereal inventor (Wheaties) in 1870
Red Foley, Blue Lick Ky, country singer (Mr Smith Goes to Washington) in 1910
John Robert Gregg, Ireland, inventor (shorthand) in 1867
Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Italian painter and architect in 1691
Igor F Stravinsky, Oranienbaum Russia, composer (Rite of Spring) in 1882

In their 60’s
George S. Clinton, American composer and musician is 65
Barry Manilow, New York City, American singer/pianist (Mandy, I Write the Songs) is 69
Joe Piscopo, comedian (SNL, Miller Lite commercials) is 61
In their 50’s
Colin Fox, national spokesperson of the Scottish Socialist Party is 53
In their 40’s
Dan Jansen, West Allis Wisc, speed skater (Oly-gold-1984, 88, 92) is 47
Greg Kinnear, actor/talk show host (Talk Soup, Sabrina, Later) is 49
Jason Patric, film, television and stage actor is 46
In their 30’s
Venus Williams, tennis star is 32  

Today’s Obits                                                           
Cyd Charisse, American dancer and actress dies in 2008 at 86
Jack Parsons, American rocket-fuel pioneer and renegade occultist dies in chemical explosion in 1952 at 37
Agha Muងammad Khān Qājār, cruel ruler of Persia, castrated & killed in 1797 at 55
Kate Smith, singer (God Bless America), dies in 1986 at 78

Answers                                                                                                                                            
Brain Game: Close Up Picture

What is the answer?
Each can be proceeded by ‘BREAK’ to make a new word
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.     Coat + s: Tosca
2.     Fats+ u : Faust
3.     Cream + n: Carmen
4.     Foiled + i: Fidelio
5.     Relate + k: Electra
6.     Rotunda + t: Turandot
7.     Fireside + g: Siegfried
8.     Dog handlers + i: (2 words) Das Rheingold

4X4 boxes
HAUL
ACRE
URGE
LEEK
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  ☺
Posted by No comments:

June 16


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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights
1775 - Liberty Bell rang for the 2nd Continental Congress
1784 - Holland forbids orange clothes
1805: Sacajawea drinks mineral water today to treat an illness
1858 - Abraham Lincoln says "A house divided against itself cannot stand"
1880 - Salvation Army forms in London
1903 - Ford Motors incorporates
1903 - Pepsi Cola company forms
1909 -  makes his pro baseball pitching debut for Rocky Mount (ECL) with 4-2 win, 
             this will cause him to forfeit his Olympic medals
1933 - US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) created
1969 - Supreme Court rules suspension of Adam Clayton Powell Jr from House
1984 - Edwin Moses wins his 100th consecutive 400-meter hurdles race
1987 - Subway gunman Bernhard Goetz acquitted on all but gun possession 
            charges after shooting 4 black youths who tried to rob him
♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

Free Rambling Thoughts   
Great day in Flag…warm, breezy, cloudless sky…who could ask for more.

I am glad that Obama has finally made a statement on Illegal immigrants that should stick. Let all the racists and bigots live with it. We have always been a country of immigrants and we must all remember that our founding families were illegals who were looking for a better life…and many of the young people who are here illegally came with their parents and should not be punished.

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)
Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle Beginnings and Endings
Given a word, the response is a word that completes a common two-word phrase. The first two letters of a given word will be the last two letters of the player's word, reversed.
For example, given "tucker," the response would be "out" because "tucker out" is a common phrase where the first word begins with "tu" and the response word ends with "ut."
1.     Bar: __ab
2.     Pace:
3.     Teacher’s :
4.     Tight:
5.     Dowsing:
6.     Garbage:
7.     Aegean:
8.     Lemon:
9.     Motel:
10.  Navy:
11.  Pink:
12.  End:
13.  Drug:
14.  Pork:
15.  Dog:

What is the answer?
Rearrange the following letters to give the name of a famous singer.
WESTERN VIDEO
4X4 Word Boxes
The answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can you solve these Word Boxes? Each answer is 3 letters.
1.     congealed blood
2.     disabled by wounds or soreness
3.     leave out
4.     head (French)
Lifestyle  Substance     
Songs of the 1970’s
  • Angie, The Rolling Stones 1973
  • Grease, Frankie Vallie 1977

Harper’s Index         
Percentage of the world’s Christians who lived in sub-Saharan Africa in 1912:1Today: 24
Found on You Tube 
Jim Thorpe, The World's Greatest Athlete      
Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day
This old man was feared by all his neighbors because they believe he practiced black magic and was responsible for missing cats and dogs and strange sounds at all hours. Every time he had a confrontation with his wife, screams and yelling could be heard deep into the night along with the same statement. “When I die I will dig my way up and out of the grave to come back and haunt you for the rest of your life!”
Well he died abruptly under strange circumstances and the funeral had a closed casket. After the burial, the wife went straight to the local bar and began to party as if there was no tomorrow.
The cheerfulness of her actions was becoming extreme while her neighbors approached in a group to ask these questions: are you not afraid? Worried? Concerned? That this man who practiced black magic and stated when he died he would dig his way up and out of the grave to come back and haunt you for the rest of your life?
The wife put down her drink and said, “Let the jerk dig. I had him buried upside down.”
Rules of Thumb   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
The average person can attach 400 to 450 pressure-sensitive address labels to envelopes per hour. Someone who is very good can do 800.
Yeah, It Really Happened
 KLAGENFURT, Austria - Officials at an Austrian zoo said two 115-year-old turtles appear to be ending a romance that spanned more than a century. Helga Happ, head of the zoo in Klagenfurt, said the giant turtles, together since they were young, came to the facility from the Basel Zoo in Switzerland 36 years ago, the Austrian Times reported Monday. "But for no reason that anyone can discover they seem to have fallen out; they just can't stand each other," Happ said. She said the turtles, named BiBi and Poldi, had to be separated when Bibi bit off a chunk of her mate's shell. "We have staff talking to and trying to engage the two in interacting, and we hope that they might find their harmony again," she said. "We were told that it's very rare that after so many years animals who are a pair will fall apart, but that's where we are. We hope, though, we can [achieve] a reconciliation."                
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • For lustrous hair with more shine, keep brushes and combs clean. Remove natural oil build-up and hair product residue by soaking combs and brushes in a solution of 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a small basin of warm water. Rinse and allow to dry.
  • If you purchase a new bike for your child, place their picture inside the handle bar before placing the grips on. If the bike is stolen and later recovered, remove the grip and there is your proof who owns the bike.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
10-16
   National Flag Week
   Jim Thorpe Native American Games
   Men's Health Week
   National Automotive Service Professionals Week
14-21
   Nursing Assistants Week
   US Open Golf Championship
   Duct Tape Days

Today Is                                                                      
Bloomsday: commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce
Fudge Day
Ladies' Day (Baseball) since 1883
National Hollerin' Contest Day
National Nursing Assistants Day
Recess At Work Day
World Juggling Day

South Africa: Youth Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             
Before 1000CE
632 - Origin of Persian [Yezdegird] Era

1500’s
1567 - Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in Lochleven Castle prison Scotland

1700’s
1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill (actually it is Breed's Hill)
1779 - Spain declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the siege of Gibraltar begins
1794 - 1st stone laid at Dutch biggest grain windmill (De Walvisch)
1800’s
1832: Battle of Pecatonica, Wisconsin: As a part of the "Black Hawk Wars," Kickapoo 
           kill 5 settlers at Fort Hamilton, Wisconsin, today. The Kickapoo will be chased to 
           the Pecatonica River by Gen.Henry Dodge and 30 militiamen. During the 
           subsequent fighting, 3 soldiers, and 11 Kickapoo will be killed.
1871 - The University Tests Act allows students to enter the Universities of Oxford, 
            Cambridge and Durham without religious tests, except for courses in theology
1879 - Gilbert & Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore" debuts at Bowery Theater NYC
1882 - 17" hailstones weighing 1.75 lbs fall in Dubuque Iowa
1884 - 1st roller coaster used (Coney Island NY)
1900’s
1909 - 1st US airplane sold commercially, by Glenn Curtiss for $5,000
1913 - South-African parliament forbids blacks owning land
1923 - Sun Yat Sen founds military academy
1935 - US Congress accepts FDR's "New Deal"
1941 - 1st US federally owned airport opened Wash DC
1947 - 1st network news-Dumont's "News from Washington"
1955 - Pope Pius XII ex-communicates Argentine Pres Juan Peron
1960 - "Psycho," opens in NY
1970 - Race riots in Miami Florida 1979 - Carl Yastrzemski hits his 1,000th extra 
            base hit
1995 - Salt Lake City awarded the XIX Winter Olympics in 2002
2000’s
2000 - Israel complies with UN Security Council Resolution 425 after 22 years of it 
            issuance, which calls on Israel to completely withdraw from Lebanon. Israel 
            withdraws from all of Lebanon, except the disputed Sheba Farms

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Remembered for being born on this day
Jack Albertson, Malden Mass, actor (Thin Man, Chico and the Man) in 1907
Nelson Doubleday, US, publisher (Doubleday) in 1899
Geronimo (GoyaaĆ‚Ă© [kĂČjàːɬɛ́] "one who yawns"), Apache leader in 1829
Mary Katharine Goddard, American printer and publisher in 1738
Katharine Graham, NYC, newspaper publisher (Wash Post) in 1917
Stan Laurel, [Arthur S Jefferson], England, comedian (Laurel & Hardy) in 1890
Jean Peugeot, Frans auto manufacturer (Peugeot) in 1896
Erich Segal, Brooklyn NY, author (Love Story, Oliver's Story) in 1937
Tupac Shakur, Bkln NY, rap star/actor (Juice, Bullet) (killed in 1996) in 1971
Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of Scotland, England and Ireland and Duchess of Orléans in 1644

In their 70’s
Joyce Carol Oates, NY, novelist (Garden of Earthly Delights) is 74
In their 60’s
Joan Van Ark, NYC, actress (Valene-Dallas, Knots Landing) is 69
In their 50’s
Laurie Metcalf, actress (Jackie-Roseanne) is 57
In their 40’s
[Eric] Randy Barnes, Charleston WV, shot putter (Oly-silv/gold-88, 96) is 46
John Cho, Korean-American actor is 40

Today’s Obits                                                           
Marie Laveau, American Voodoo practitioner dies in 1881 at 86
Brian Piccolo, American football player dies of testicular cancer in 1970 at 26
George Reeves, actor (Superman, Gone with the Wind), shoots self in 1959 at 45
Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline, Chancellor of Scotland dies in 1622 at 67

Answers                                                                                                                                            
Brain Game: Close Up Picture

What is the answer?
Stevie Wonder
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.     Bar: tab
2.     Pace: lap
3.     Teacher’s : pet
4.     Tight: fit
5.     Dowsing: rod
6.     Garbage: bag
7.     Aegean: sea
8.     Lemon: peel
9.     Motel: room
10.  Navy: bean
11.  Pink: slip
12.  End: zone
13.  Drug: lord
14.  Pork: chop
15.  Dog: food

4X4 boxes
CLOT
LAME
OMIT
TETE
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  ☺
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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.