August 26


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

Flagstaff Almanac…  
Week: 35 / Day: 239 Today: High   76°…Low 52°
Records: High  88 °(1985)…Low 36° (2002)
Averages: High  78°…Low 49°
High clouds/ light rain--Wind:   9mph;  Gusts: 24mph
Today’s humidity:  81%

Quote of the Day…

Today’s  Historical  Highlights…
 2003 - The Columbia Accident Investigation Board releases its final reports 
              on Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
1983 - Flooding destroys most of the old town of Bilbao, Spain
1972 - 20th Olympic games open at Munich German FR
1964 - LBJ nominated at Democratic convention in Atlantic City, NJ
1946 - George Orwell published "Animal Farm"
1929 - 1st US roller coaster built
1873 - 1st free kindergarten in the U.S. started by Susan Blow in Carondelet, 
             a suburb of St. Louis
1498 - Michaelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pieta


♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪.. 
How many can you identify…answers in Today’s Birthdays
 
Free Rambling Thoughts…   
I had a nice quiet Saturday. A little morning rain shortened my morning walk.

Saddened to hear of Neil Armstrong’s passing. He was in Flag just a few weeks ago talking at the local observatory. Some friends were there and said his humor was great, his humbleness was extraordinary, and his view of life’s goals challenging. My friends had mentioned their surprise when it was in the news that he was having heart surgery…since he never mentioned any ailment during his visit. RIP

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)
What is the answer?
Answer the following clue in two rhyming words (e.g. an obese feline is a fat cat) If only one number is given, the answer is a word featuring internal rhyme (e.g. voodoo)
raze a New York suburb (7,9)
Rebus…
Can you figure out what this means?

Lifestyle  Substance…     
Do you remember this?

Read Carefully!!
 Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
Do you know what this word means?
What is this not so common name of a common object?
Contrail
Scottish Castles—…

60’s music…:
  • Percy Faith Theme from A Summer Place (1960)
  •  The “Theme from A Summer Place” was written by Mack Discant, with the music by Max Steiner, an Austrian composer of music for film and theater. The name of the song comes from the 1959 motion picture for which it was created (obviously), but the most popular version of this song was recorded by Percy Faith, a Canadian conductor. Faith’s version spent an (at the time) record nine consecutive weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1960, as well as snagged a Grammy Award for Record of the Year the following year. Of all the covers of this song, Faith’s version stands alone in both critical acclaim and overwhelming popularity.
  • Cliff Nobles & Co. The Horse (1968)
  •   The Horse is a song by Cliff Nobles and Company, released in 1968. Like the previous song, The Horse is the instrumental version of the A-side single “Love is All Right”. The Horse reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and sold a million copies within three months of its release. A unique distinction of The Horse is that the title singer, Cliff Nobles, doesn’t actually perform on the track since his vocals are actually featured on the track Love is All Right. Cliff Nobles had previously recorded three singles with Atlantic Records before moving on to Soul Records and breaking through with The Horse, his most successful song and one of my personal favorites.

Harper’s Index…
Estimated number of Americans carrying student-loan debt is in excess of $200,000: 167,000
Unusal Fact of the Day…
The average album length has increased from 40 minutes in the LP era to well over an hour in the CD era. Most double-album LPs can fit onto a single CD.
Found on You Tube…
First Moon Landing 1969
Joke-of-the-day…
 Chris had just turned 16 had long hair, and look like Joe Dirt. He went to his dad and asked: "Dad it is my 16th birthday! I would like you to by me a car for my birthday.”
So his dad replied, "Son, I will buy you any car that you want as long as you raise your grades AND cut your hair."
Chris said ok. The next week, Chris brought home a report card he had raised all his grades from c's and d's to all a's. His father was very happy! Now Chris was so excited he told his dad what car he wanted a, convertible mustang (red).
His dad said, "Chris you haven't cut your hair."
Chris replied, "Well Jesus had long hair."
His dad said, "yeah, and Jesus walked everywhere he went!"
Rules of Thumb…
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
 RAISING SWINE: It takes the profit from four pigs to pay the cost of keeping a sow. The fifth pig is the first one that makes you money.
Yeah, It Really Happened…
 OKLAHOMA CITY - An Oklahoma mother wants her 5-year-old son's school to revise its dress code after he was forced to turn his University of Michigan shirt inside out. Shannon Barton said she was shocked to find out her son, Cooper, had been made to turn his T-shirt inside out at Wilson Elementary in Oklahoma City because the district's dress code only allows college apparel from Oklahoma schools, KWTV, Oklahoma City, reported Thursday.
"They should really worry about academics. It wasn't offensive. He's 5," Barton said. District officials said the policy, which also bans professional sports team apparel, was created in 2005 with the help of an Anti-Gang Task Force. Superintendant Karl Springer said the policy will be reviewed by officials.
Somewhat Useless Information…
  • Nathanial Currier and James Ives are best known for their Victorian Christmas scenes, but they also produced significant political cartoons and banners in their lithograph shop.
  • Christmas still reigns supreme as the biggest card-sending holiday, but Valentine's Day runs a close second. The top recipients of Valentine cards are teachers, followed by children, mothers, and then wives.
  • It takes a three-volt lithium ion battery, an analog recording chip, an amplifier, and tiny speakers to create a musical greeting card. When the card is closed, a tab slides between the two contacts and keeps the greeting silent. Such devices draw very little juice, so a musical greeting will long outlast your birthday party.
  • The very first Hallmark card, published in 1916, featured a verse from poet Edgar A. Guest: "I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me."
  • According to the Greeting Card Association, four of every five greeting cards sold are purchased by women.
  • In 1848, a new Valentine's Day card tradition emerged: the "penny dreadful" or "vinegar valentine." These cards were printed on cheap stock and featured rhyming insults intended for spinsters and other lovelorn folks.

Calendar Information…        
Happening This Week:
17-26
Little League Baseball World Series
25-31
Be Kind To Humankind Week
National Safe at Home Week

Today Is…                                                                      
International Homeless Animals Day: activities often include candlelight vigils, adopt-a-thons, microchip clinics, blessings of the animals, and heartfelt speeches
National Cherry Popsicle Day
National Dog Day
Women's Equality Day

Today’s Events Through History…  
2000’s
2008 - Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian 
            breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia
1900’s
1996 - Bill Clinton signs welfare reform into law, representing major shift in US 
            welfare policy
1978 - Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice becomes Pope John Paul I
1967 - Beatles, Mick Jagger & Marienne Faithful meet Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
1955 - 1st color telecast (NBC) of a tennis match (Davis Cup)
1940 - Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration
            of Félix Éboué, France's first black colonial governor
1907 - Houdini escapes from chains underwater at Aquatic Park in 57 sec

1800’s
1874 - 16 blacks lynched in Tennessee
1858 - First news dispatch by telegraph
1858 - In what is called "The Battle of Four Lakes," force under Colonel George 
            Wright fight for about three hours with Coeur d’Alene, Columbia River, Colville, 
            Kalispel, and Spokane Indians. The army defeats the Indians.
1846 - Felix Mendelssohn's "Elijah," premieres
1842 - The Caddoes sign a treaty in Texas. They agree to visit other tribes and 
             try to convince them to also sign treaties with Texas

1700’s
1748 - The first Lutheran denomination in North America, the Pennsylvania 
            Ministerium, is founded in Philadelphia

1500’s
1541 - Turkish sultan Suleiman occupies Buda/annexes Hungary

Before 1000CE
580 - Chinese invents toilet paper 

Today’s Birthdays…                                                           
In their 30’s
Macaulay Culkin, actor (Home Alone, My Girl, Richie Rich) is 32
In their 40’s
 Chris Burke, actor with down syndrome (Corky-Life Goes On) is 47
In their 60’s
Richard Cowsill, Newport RI, rocker (Cowsills-Hair, We Can Fly) is 62
Michael Jeter, actor (Fisher King) will be 60
Tom Ridge, first United States Secretary of Homeland Security is 67
Will Shortz, American crossword editor is 60
In their 70’s
 Vic Dana, Buffalo, singer/dancer (Talent Scouts) is 70
In their 80’s
Sangharakshita [Dennis Philip Edward Lingwood], Buddhist Philosopher, 
      Founder of the Western Buddhist Order is 87

Remembered for being born today
Mary Ann Nichols, 1st victim of Jack the Ripper b. 1845
Albert B Sabin, Bialystock, Poland, US microbiologist (oral polio vaccine) b. 1906
Albert "Bertie" von Saksen-Coburg-Gotha, husband of queen Victoria b. 1819
Elisha Williams, American rector of Yale College b. 1694

Today’s Historical Obits…                                                           
Tex Avery, animation cartoonist [Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Droopy, Screwy Squirrel,
          and developing Porky Pig, Chilly Willy] dies of cancer in 1982 at 72
Charles Boyer, actor (Gaslight, Rogues), dies in 1978 at 78
Lon Chaney, actor (Thunder, Big City, Unholy 3), dies of throat hemorrhage in 
         1930 at 47
Dominick Dunne, American writer, Vanity Fair correspondent dies in 2009 at 83
Ted Knight, [Tadeus Konopka], actor (Mary Tyler Moore), dies of cancer in 1986 at 62
Charles Lindbergh, aviator, dies of lymphoma in 1974 at 72
Thonis van Leeuwenhoek, biologist/inventor (microscope), dies in 1723 at 90
Evelyn Wood, speed reading guru, dies in 1995 at 86
Answers…                                                                                                                                            
Do you know what this word means?
Is the long, thin trail left behind by an aircraft when it's flying high enough for the cold to turn the exhaust vapor into ice crystals. Indeed, a condensation trail (to give it its full name) is, in effect, a very long, thin, man-made cloud. Condensation trail: A contrail is created when an aircraft is flying high enough for the cold to turn the exhaust vapor into ice crystals
Contrails may look like big swathes of pollution in the sky, but although they contain, as well as water vapor, hydrocarbons, sulphates, and nitrogen and carbon dioxides, they create, comparatively, far less ' greenhouse gas' than motor vehicles or power plants.

What is the answer?
 Flatten Manhattan
Rebus
Painless operation

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  ☺

August 25


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

Flagstaff Almanac…  
Week: 34 / Day: 238   Today: High   68°…Low 49°
Records: High   91°(1985) …Low 30°(1968)
Averages: High   78°…Low 49°
Wind:   9mph;  Gusts: 18mph
Today’s humidity:  90%

Quote of the Day…

Today’s  Historical  Highlights…
1997 - Egon Krenz, the former East German leader, is convicted of a 
            shoot-to-kill Berlin Wall policy
1988 - Iran & Iraq begin talks to end their 8 year war
1981 - Voyager 2's closest approach to Saturn (63,000 miles/100,000 km)
1960 - 17th summer Olympics opens in Rome
1943 - Lord Mountbatten appointed Supreme Allied Commander in SE Asia
1940 - 1st (British) night bombing of Germany (Berlin)
1940 - 1st parachute wedding
1916 - Dept of Interior forms National Park Service
1910 - Yellow Cab is founded
1886 - 1st international polo meet (US vs England)
1862 - Secretary of War authorizes Gen Rufus Saxton to arm 5,000 slaves
1829 - Pres Jackson makes an offer to buy Texas, but Mexican government refuses
1718 - Hundreds of French colonists arrive in Louisiana
1689 - Montreal taken by Iroquois

♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪.. 
How many can you identify…answers in Today’s Birthdays
 Returns tomorrow
Free Rambling Thoughts…   
I had a great lunch with John, a former colleague. He had lots of good stories about his last daughter’s wedding, a traditional one, held at their home out in Doney Park. He’s still busy with his Comfort Keeper’s Job and his wife is busy teaching K at TCBS. I shared some stories about my latest Safari.

I really wish I was still in Education…NOT. A front page story, and a little more from John at lunch, lets me know that a former CEO of Intel has convinced AZ and 46 other states how to finally fix education once and for all. As strange as it sounds, some of the teachers and educators in AZ and across the US are looking at this with a skeptical eye. From the little I learned, it means new curriculum and new testing, and new teacher evaluation. I can’t imagine why educators are looking at this with such a critical eye. Here we go again.

My photos arrived in Denver…the Priority Mail the PO promised wasn’t exactly right—they said Wednesday, I told Ellie Thursday and she got them today. NBD—No big deal. They are there and she is happy with them. I can’t wait to find out which are selected by the travelers.

I was saddened today when Lance Armstrong said he would no longer pursue his lifelong suspension from Cycling for doping. He never admitted guilt. Always sad to see a great athlete fall.

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)
What is the answer?
Answer the following clue in two rhyming words (e.g. an obese feline is a fat cat) If only one number is given, the answer is a word featuring internal rhyme (e.g. voodoo)
hamburger (6,5)
Rebus…
Can you figure out what this means?

Lifestyle  Substance…     
Do you remember this?

Read Carefully!!
Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures
Do you know what this word means?
What is this not so common name of a common object?
Caruncula
Historic Flagstaff, AZ—…

60’s music…:

Harper’s Index…         
Percentage change in the past 25 years in the net worth of Americans 65 and older: +42Of Americans 35 and younger: -68
Unusal Fact of the Day…
Many artificial color additives are prohibited by law, so farmers add marigold petals to their chicken feed as a natural color enhancer to give their egg yolks that sunny, yellow hue.
Found on You Tube… 
Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World
Joke-of-the-day…While getting a checkup, a man tells his doctor that he thinks his wife is losing her hearing. The doctor says, "You should do a simple test. Stand about 15 feet behind your wife and say 'honey?’ Move 3 feet closer and do it again. Keep moving 3 feet closer until she finally responds." Remember how close you were when she gives you an answer. That will help me know how bad her hearing loss is. About a month later the same guy is at the doctor again and the doctor asks, "Well, did you do that experiment with your wife's hearing?” The man says "yes". "How close did you get before she answered?" "Well, by the time I got about 3 feet away she just turned around and said "For the FIFTH TIME... WHAT???"
Rules of Thumb…   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
PLANNING A CLASS PARTY If you teach in an elementary school and you are going to have a class party, you should a) have it on a day when there is no school the next day, b) have it during the last period of the day, and c) NEVER have it last more than one hour.
Yeah, It Really Happened…
BATAVIA, N.Y. -- A western New York woman has been convicted of punching a 70-year-old Walmart cashier during a dispute over a receipt on Christmas Eve.Jacquetta Simmons was found guilty of felony assault by a Genesee (jehn-eh-SEE') County Court jury Friday.The 27-year-old faces from 2 1/3 to seven years in prison under New York's Granny Law, which makes it a felony to intentionally injure someone 65 or older if the defendant is at least 10 years younger than the victim.Prosecutors say Simmons knocked Grace Suozzi down with a blow to the face while Suozzi was checking her receipt. Simmons' lawyer argued she swung her arm but didn't intend to hit Suozzi.Sentencing is set for Nov. 14 in Batavia.Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says employee safety is a "top priority" and its focus is on supporting Suozzi.
Somewhat Useless Information…   
  • The world's smallest flowering plant is the Wolffia globosa. Found in tropical climates (including California, Florida, and Hawaii), the blossom is so tiny that a "bouquet" of 12 of them could fit on the head of a pin.
  • The flowers of mature Venus flytrap plants bloom on a tall stalk far above the carnivorous leaves. They have to; otherwise, the plant would "eat" insects trying to pollinate the flower.
  • The white and black varieties of the "bat plant," members of the genus Tacca, exhibit beautiful flowers with long "whiskers" that may be green or even purple.
  • The Raffelesia arnoldii is famous not only as the plant with the world's largest bloom (three feet across) but also one that reeks of rotting flesh. This odor attracts flies that help pollinate the blossom.
  • By contrast, the yellow flowers of the box-leaf azara tree have a decidely better odor: that of vanilla and/or chocolate.
  • Native to South Africa, the Ceropegia ampliata is one of the most visually striking plants when it blooms in "inflated, balloon-like flowers of white and yellow pinstripes, topped with emerald green birdcages."

Calendar Information…        
Happening This Week:
17-26
Little League Baseball World Series
19-25
Minority Enterprise Development Week
25-31
Be Kind To Humankind Week
National Safe at Home Week

Today Is…                                                                      
International Bat Night
Kiss and Make Up Day
National Second-hand Wardrobe Day
Uruguay: Independence Day (1825 from Empire of Brazil) 

Today’s Events Through History…  
2000’s
2003 - The Tli Cho land claims agreement is signed between the Dogrib First 
             Nations and the Canadian federal government in Rae-Edzo (now called 
             Behchoko).
1900’s
1991 - Carl Lewis runs 100m in 9.86 seconds
1990 - UN security council authorizes military action against Iraq
1989 - After 12-year, 4-billion-mile journey, Voyager 2 flies over cloudtops of 
            Neptune & its moon Triton, sending back photographs of swamps
1983 - US & USSR sign $10 billion grain pact
1970 - Elton John's 1st US appearance (Los Angeles)
1968 - Arthur Ashe becomes 1st black to win US singles championship
1960 - Demonstrations against Premier Lumumba, Congo
1952 - Puerto Rico becomes a US commonwealth
1940 - Lithuania, Latvia & Estonia incorporated into Soviet Union
1919 - 1st scheduled passenger service by airplane (Paris-London)
1915 - Hurricane kills 275 in Galveston, Texas with $50 million damage
1800’s
1898 - 700 Greeks and 15 Englishmen are slaughtered by the Turks in Heraklion, 
            Greece
1868 - Acting Governor Hall of Colorado telegraphs to the military that 200 Indians 
            are "devastating southern Colorado." The military also receives a report of 
            Indians killing an animal herder near Fort Dodge, in southwestern Kansas.
1804 - Alice Meynell becomes 1st woman jockey (England)
1700’s
1737 - A agreement ise signed by Thomas Penn and Munsee Chiefs Manawkyhickon
            and Nutimus. Teeshacomin and Lappawinzoe also sign. The agreement 
            recognizes an old deed made in 1686. The agreement calls for Indian lands to 
            be sold along the Delaware River for the distance that a man can walk in a day
            and a half. This is called the "Walking Purchase" and is performed on 
            September 19, 1737.
1600’s
1609 - Galileo demonstrates his 1st telescope to Venetian lawmakers
1500’s
1540 - Explorer Hernando de Alarcon travels up Colorado River

1200’s
1212 - Children's crusaders under Nicolas (10) reach Genoa

Before 1000CE
325 - Council of Nicaea ends with adoption of the Nicene Creed establishing 
          the doctrine of the Holy Trinity

Today’s Birthdays…                                                           
Under 30
Blake Lively, actress (Gossip Girl) is 25
In their 40’s
Claudia Schiffer, super model (Elle, Rolling Stone)is 42
Blair Underwood, Tacomma Wash, actor (Jonathan-LA Law, High Incident) is 48
In their 50’s
Tim Burton, Burbank California, American film director (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands) is 54
Elvis Costello, [Declan Patrick McManus], Lon, rock vocalist (Allison) is 58
Billy Ray Cyrus, Flatwoods Ky, country singer (Achy Breaky Heart) is 51
In their 60’s
Anne Archer, actress (Fatal Attraction, Patriot Games) is 65
Rollie Fingers, relief pitcher (Oakland Athletics, MVP/Cy Young-1981) is 66
John Savage, actor (Deer Hunter, Maria's Lovers) is 63
Gene Simmons, [Chaim Witz], Haifa Israel, rock guitarist (KISS-Beth) is 63
In their 70’s
David Canary, Elwood Ind, actor (Peyton Place, Candy-Bonanza) is 74
Regis Philbin, host (Joey Bishop Show, Live with Regis & Kathie Lee) is 79
Tom Skerritt, actor (Ryan's Four, Alien, Big Bad Mama) is 79
In their 80’s
Sean Connery, Edinburgh Scotland, actor (James Bond) is 82
In their 90’s
Monty Hall, Winnipeg Canada, TV game show host (Lets Make a Deal) is 91

Remembered for being born today
Don Defore, Cedar Rapids Iowa, actor (George-Hazel, Ozzie & Harriet) b. 1917
Mel Ferrer, Elberon New Jersey, American actor (Longest Day, Eaten Alive,
        5th Floor) b. 1917
Althea Gibson, Silver SC, 1st black tennis champion in a major event b. 1927
Richard Greene, Plymouth England, actor (Adv of Robin Hood) b. 1918
Ivan IV [Ivan the Terrible], 1st tsar of Russia b. 1530
Van Johnson, Newport RI, actor (Brigadoon) always wore red socks b. 1916
Allan Pinkerton, founded Chicago detective agency b. 1819
Michael Rennie, Engld, actor (Robe, Klatuu-Day the Earth Stood Still) b. 1909
Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist; 
        Nobel Prize laureate b. 1916
George Stubbs, England, animal painter (Horse Frightened by Lion) b. 1724
George C Wallace, Clio Ala, (gov-D-Ala)/pres candidate b. 1919

Today’s Historical Obits…                                                           
Truman Capote, author (In Cold Blood), dies of liver cancer in 1984 at 59
David Hume, Scottish philosopher and historian dies of cancer in 1776 at 65
Ghengis Khan, [Temudjin], founded Mongolia, dies in 1227 at 65
Alfred C Kinsey, American biologist, zoologist and sexologist (Kinsey Report), 
      dies of  heart ailment and pneumonia in 1956 at 62  
Friedrich Nietschze, philosopher (Also sprach Zarathustra), dies of stroke in 
     1900 at 55
2009 - Edward M. Kennedy, Senator MA, dies of brain cancer in 2009 at 77
Answers…                                                                                                                                            
Do you know what this word means?
The small pink protuberance in the corner of the eye. It contains glands which produce sweat and tears. These tears are then secreted onto the surface of the conjunctiva. These glands are known as Ciaccio's glands, named after Italian anatomist Giuseppe Vincenzo Ciaccio, who first described their function in 1874.
What is the answer?
Ground round
Rebus
For instance (four-in-stance)

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.