7\7\13

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 28/ Day: 188   Today: H 81°…L 57°

Wind: ave:   5mph; Gusts:  22mph  Ave. humidity:  52%

*

Average Low	Average High	Record Low	Record High
49°	82°	32° (1955)	92° (1905)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

12,000 police occupy university in Mexico City…1977

127°F (53°C), Parker Ariz (state record)…1905

1st comic book "The Wasp," is published…1801

Beginning of the civil war in Biafra…1967

British Museum founded by an Act of Parliament (opens in 1759)…1753

Chocolate introduced…1550

"God Save the King" is 1st sung…1607

Construction begins on Boulder (Hoover) Dam…1930

Land Grant Act endows state colleges with federal land…1862

Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini canonized as 1st American saint…1946

Retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death…1456

Sandra Day O'Connor nominated for the Supreme Court…1981

Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, 

     Missouri. It is described as the greatest forward step in the baking industry since 

     bread was wrapped"…1928 

University of Delaware invents "junior year abroad" (at Sorbonne)…1923

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Lots of thunderstorms Saturday here in our small mountain town. Sadly, that means flooding for the many people who live below a burn area in East Flagstaff. A lot has been spent to stop the damage, but it sounds like a few of the streets are flooding. The problem is that the flooding brings debris from the mountain and leaves lots of sand, silt, and foliage in the drainage ditches and on the neighborhood streets that flood.

 

Talked to my brother this afternoon. He and his wife are back from Mexico and had a great time. As with any vacation, they are looking forward to a good night’s sleep and a day to rest before returning to the grind of work tomorrow.

 

I have flown on the Boeing 777 many times. Watching the crash results in SF certainly gives me pause. These people were in the air for about 12+ hours and were tired and excited to get off the plane. Thankfully I have never had a hard landing in that plane, but have been on a flight that I think is about to land when it suddenly heads back up. Not a pleasant experience. While there are lots of exits and flight crews are trained well, the aisles are narrow and with over 300 people trying to get out all at once is frightening and adding a fire would make it worse. Amazing photos to see people carrying bags as they went down the slide and ran from the plane. Really? Seems to me that the most important thing is to get off the plane alive, not to grab your computer or trinkets or duty free. But then again, don’t know what I would do in that situation.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Take the given words, and by moving a single letter from one word to the other, make a pair of synonyms, or near synonyms. For example, given: Boast - Hip, move the 's' from 'Boast' to 'Hip' creating two synonyms: Boat - Ship.

1. Rode - Can 2. Font - Farce 3. Tory - Stale 4. Dire - Cash 5. Self - Shill

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• octopus - syd barrett

• Joel Siegel on Airplane Fares and Movie Ticket Prices

• Michelle Kwan 2003 World Championships

Hmmmm…Oxymorons

Evaporated milk Even odds Exact estimate Extensive briefing

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

Rank of Saudi Arabia among nations with most viewers per capita on You Tube: 1

Picture of the Day: Street Markets

Unusual Fact of the Day

Norwegian cross country skier Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset attributed his disappointing silver medal in the 4×10-kilometer relay at the 2010 Winter Olympics to less-than-focused preparation. “I think I have seen too much porn in the last 14 days,” he said.

Joke-of-the-day

Notice on the bulletin board at the wrestling arena: “There will be a rehearsal for tonight’s bout at 2pm.”  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

PLAYING POKER

 An old rule of thumb says that when your turn comes to call, don't do it - raise or fold. Not always, of course, but amateurs will call a lot more often than professionals.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

DALLAS - A retired teacher from Dallas who wore the same outfit for yearbook picture day for 40 years says he started the trend by accident and kept it up on a dare. Dale Irby, 63, said the whole stunt started out in 1974, when he wore the same outfit for picture day as he did the year before, the Dallas Morning News reported. "I was so embarrassed when I got the school pictures back that second year and realized I had worn the very same thing as the first year," said Irby, an elementary school gym teacher. Then, his wife dared him to wear the outfit -- a patterned polyester shirt and coffee-colored sweater -- again for a third year in a row. "After five pictures," he said, "it was like: 'Why stop?'" Irby wore the same outfit every year until he retired from Prestonwood Elementary this year. "He took his job so seriously in teaching good sportsmanship -- both in athletics and in life," Prestonwood principal Pam Aitken said. "He taught a lot of kids to be fair and respectful of others. That's a great legacy to leave."  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The first American satellite in orbit, Explorer I, was launched February 1, 1958.

• The first man-made object to circle the earth was Sputnik I, launched in 1957.

• The International Space Station weighs about 500 tons and is the same size as a football field.

• The three most recently discovered planets were Uranus in 1781, Neptune in 1846, and Pluto in 1930.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7

National Education Association Week
National Unassisted Homebirth Week
4-7

Beans and Bacon Days:
International Chicken Wing Week

4-10

Freedom Week: 4-10 
7-13  
Be Nice To New Jersey Week
Creative Maladjustment Week
National Farriers Week
Nude Recreation Weekend

Today Is                                                                      

·        Chocolate Day

·        Father-Daughter Take A Walk Together Day

·        Global Forgiveness Day

·        Tell The Truth Day

^^

·        Japan: Tanabata/Star Festival (celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively))

·        Solomon Islands: Independence Day (1978 from Australia)

·        Spain: Running of the Bulls (since 14^th c)

·        Tanzania: Saba Saba Day (1954 founding of the Tanganyika African National Union

Today’s Events through History  

Coordinated terrorist bomb blasts strike London's public transport system during the 

     morning rush hour killing 52 and injuring 700…2005

Coronado attacks the Zuni village of Hawikuh in what becomes New Mexico…1540

Doors' "Light My Fire" hits #1…1967

Oñate’s expedition is at the village of the San Domingo Pueblos. According to their 

     journals, leaders from seven different Pueblo groups meet in a council with Oñate. 

    The journals also says the tribal leaders pledge allegiance to Spain…1598

Travelers checks patented…1891

US annexes California…1846

US annexes Hawaii…1898

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Doc Severinsen, [Carl], bandleader/trumpeter on the Tonight Show is 86

In their 70’s

Ringo Starr, [Richard Starkey], Beatles drummer is 73

In their 60’s

Shelley Duvall, actress (Popeye, Faery Tale Theater) is 64

Under 30

Michele Kwan, figure skater (Oly-94, Oly-silver-98) is 33

Remembered for being born today

Joseph-Marie Jacquard, invented programmable loom [1752-1834]

Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer/conductor [1860-1911]

Joel Siegel, film critic [1943- 2007]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Syd Barrett, original guitarist and vocalist of the band Pink Floyd…pancreatic cancer…2006…at 60

Keefe Brasselle, actor (Be Our Guest)…liver disease…1981…at 58

William Curtis, English botanist (Botanical Magazine), dies at 53

Arthur Conan Doyle, British writer (Sherlock Holmes)…heart attack…1930…at 71

Thomas Gray, English poet (Elegy) …1771…at 54

Allen Lane [Williams], English publisher (Penguin Books)…cancer…1970…at 67

Henri Nestlé, Founder of Nestlé S.A….heart attack…1890…at 75

Answer: Brain Teasers

1. Rod - Cane 2. Front - Face 3. Story - Tale 4. Die - Crash 5. Shelf - Sill

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  §

7-6-13

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 27/ Day:  187  Today: H 77°…L 59°

Wind: ave:   15mph; Gusts:  25mph  Ave. humidity:  43%

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st all-talking motion picture shown in NY (Lights of NY)…1928

Anne Frank's family goes into hiding in After House, Amsterdam…1942

California passes 1st "no fault" divorce law…1970

Cheyenne sign a "friendship" treaty (7 stat. 255) with the United States at the mouth 

    of the Tongue River…1825

Congress unanimously resolves US currency named "dollar" & adopts decimal coinage…1785

England/Scotland signs Treaty of Edinburgh…1560

LaSalle leaves Montreal to explore Ohio River…1669

Louis Pasteur successfully tests an anti-rabies vaccine…1885

Nicaragua becomes 1st nation to formally accept UN Charter…1945

Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England…1189

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

It is so nice to have the monsoon here in Flagstaff. Lower temperatures; slight breeze; possibility of rain. Nice.

 

Cleaned up around the house, mopping and vacuuming; typical weekly stuff. Not very exciting for sure. I had CNN on during that time, and sure learned a lot about the courtroom process as the Zimmerman trial was on all day. Interesting to hear the various lawyers talking about each person’s testimony. I hope this doesn’t stay on too long, as I was really much more interested in world news…like what was happening in Egypt, Syria, Bolivia, and other places.

 

I’m still really confused when Obama said he would not scramble jets to get Snowden, then a day later so many countries refused air space to the flight of the Bolivian President from Moscow…and found nothing when they landed for fuel in Austria. I’ve spent some time in those ‘in transit’ areas at airports. They are not a place you would want to stay very long, even in places like London. There are lots of folding chairs, bare floor, none or very few concessions and restrooms are small and sometimes difficult to even locate. ‘In transit’ means you are just at the airport to change planes, and are not staying in that country. Sometimes you pass though a checkpoint, sometimes you don’t. If in fact Snowden is still in the Moscow airport in the ‘in transit’ section, he must be getting pretty bored. Sure wish we heard more about that.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

At a + shaped intersection, four different-colored houses are at the four corners of the intersection so that each house is separated by a road. All you know about the colors of the houses is:

1. The blue house is directly north of the purple house. 2. The orange house is directly west of the green house. What colors are the two houses that are across the road from the green house?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Roy Rogers & Dale Evans--What's My Line?

• William Faulkner Nobel Prize speech

• Pat Paulsen - Freedom to Censor

• Robin's Holy's first season Batman

Hmmmm…Oxymorons

Classic novel Classically modern Clearly confused

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

Percentage of people killed by US drone stikes in Pakistan in 2012 who were Taliban or Al Qaeda leaders: 2

Picture of the Day: Flagstaff…long ago

Unusual Fact of the Day

Scottish band The Bay City Rollers earned their name after sticking a pin in a map of America, which landed on the Michigan city.

Joke-of-the-day

An example of the new America: A brother and sister were driving to a couple stores and the conversation of buying things they needed came up. As they were talking, the sister mentioned that she needed to get a new car.

The brother said, “Well, you have a college degree now, so you can go get the job that pays you more."

The sister, who made between 10 and 11 dollars an hour said, “I already got the job that my college degree will get me. Now what?”

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

ENTERING THE GROUND CUSHION

 The ground cushion is an invisible area near the runway where the interaction between the airplane's wing and the ground cause changes in an airplane's flight characteristics. Measured scientifically, the height of the ground cushion is about equal to the wingspan of the airplane. A pilot, however, will notice the effects at an altitude half the wingspan of the airplane.   

Yeah, It Really Happened

In 1966 Dr. Sam Axelrad was a 27-year-old military doctor serving in Vietnam when Nguyen Quang Hung was brought to his table with a three-day-old wound in his arm. In order to save his life, Dr. Axelrad amputated the arm above the elbow.

Axelrad said his medic colleagues boiled off the flesh, reconstructed the arm bones and gave them to him. It was hardly common practice, but he said it was a reminder of a good deed performed.

When Axelrad finally looked through his war mementos all those years later at his home in Texas he was motivated to find out if the soldier was still alive. As it turns out he was alive and well. So the good doctor packed the arm and decided to take his family on vacation to Vietnam.

Hung was surprised to be reunited with his lost limb, to say the least.

"I can't believe that an American doctor took my infected arm, got rid of the flesh, dried it, took it home and kept it for more than 40 years," he said. "I don't think it's the kind of keepsake that most people would want to own. But I look forward to seeing him again and getting my arm bones back."

The men were reunited at Hung's home in central Vietnam. They met each other's children, and grandchildren, and joked about which of them had been better looking back when war made them enemies.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• A firecracker (along with fireworks) was discovered more than 1,000 years ago in China (during the Han dynasty). Every year people in China celebrate inventing the firecracker on the 18th of April.

• Firecracker is also known as a banger, bunger, cracker or noise maker. The art of creating, making and setting off fireworks is called as "pyrotechnics". Firework professionals are known as "pyrotechnicians" or "pyrotechnists".

• It is believed that the first "firecrackers" were chunks of bamboo, which someone may have thrown onto a fire. Bamboo grows so fast that pockets of sap and air get trapped inside the segments of the bamboo. When heated, the air inside the hollow reeds expands and bursts through the side with a long bam!

• Around the 13th century, firecrackers arrived in Europe, but it’s not clear whether Marco Polo or the Crusaders who introduced it to them. The first Europeans who turned firecrackers into art were the Italians and some of the top firecrackers manufacturers from US are still of Italian descent.

• At first, white and orange were the only colors that people could create in fireworks. It was only in the 1800s that people discovered how to make colored firecrackers. Chemists identified certain compounds that when used burned to give purples, greens, reds and blues. 

• In public shows today, specialists use computers to control the electronic ignition of fireworks as well as to synchronize the aerial bursts with music.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7

National Education Association Week
National Unassisted Homebirth Week
4-7

Beans and Bacon Days:
International Chicken Wing Week

4-10

Freedom Week: 4-10 

Today Is                                                                      

·        Hop A Park Day: to visit local parks

·        International Chicken Wing Society Cook-off Day

·        International Cherry Pit Spitting Day

·        International Day of Cooperatives

·        International Kissing Day or World Kiss Day

·        Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day

^^

·        Comoros: Independence Day (1975 from France)

·        Lithuania: Day of Statehood (1253: coronation of Mindaugas the first and only King of Lithuania)

·        Malawi: Republic Day (1966 from UK)

·        US: Alaska: Statehood Day 1958; 49^th state

Today’s Events through History  

170 die in a fire at Ringling Bros Circus in Hartford CN…1944

Cartier meets Micmacs in Chaleur Bay, Canada…1534

England's King Richard III crowned…1483

Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens 

     for trade after 44 years…2006

Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River…1484

Rock group "Jefferson Airplane" forms…1965

T E Lawrence captures Port of Agaba from Turkey…1917

US law makes aliens "liable to be apprehended, restrained, ... & removed as 

     alien enemies"…1798

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 90’s

Nancy Davis Reagan, [Anne Francis Robbins], 1st Lady is 92

In their 70’s

Ned Beatty, Lexington Ky, actor (Deliverance, Repossed, Network) is 76

In their 60’s

George W. Bush Jr, 43rd US President and 46th Governor of Texas is 67

Fred Dryer, NFLer (NY Giants, LA Rams)/actor (Hunter) is 67

Shelley Hack, actress (Tiffany Welles-Charlie's Angel) is 66

Sylvester Stallone, actor/director (Rocky, Rambo, Cobra) is 67

Burt Ward, [Gervis], LA California, actor (Robin-Batman) is 68

In their 30’s

50 Cent (Curtis James Jackson III), American rapper is 38

Tamera Mowry, TV actress is 35

Tia Mowry, TV actress is 35

Remembered for being born today

Sebastian Cabot, British actor (Mr French-Family Affair, Time Machine) [1918-1977]

Merv Griffin, TV host (Merv Griffin Show) [1925-2007]

Bill Haley, Highland Park Mich, rock vocalist (Rock Around the Clock) [1925-1981]

John Paul Jones, naval hero ("I have not yet begun to fight") [1747-1792]

Janet Leigh, [Jeanetta Morrison], actress (Psycho), [1927- 2004]

Pat Paulsen, Wash, comedian/pres candidate (Smothers Bros Show) [1927-1997]

Alexander Wilson, Scottish-born naturalist [1766-1813]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, jazz musician (Hello Dolly)…heart attack…1971…at 71

Joe E Brown, comedian…long illness at…1973…at 81

Buddy Ebsen Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Jr., actor…2003…95

William Faulkner, US author (Nobel 1949)…heart attack…1962…at 64

John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States…1835…at 79

Robert McNamara, United States Secretary of Defense…2009…at 93

Thomas More, philosopher (Utopia), executed for treason…1535…at 57

Roy Rogers (Leonard Franklin Slye), cowboy actor/singer…1973…at 86

Answer: Brain Teasers

Purple and blue.

It is impossible for north to align with the roads, but if north is across the diagonal then it works out. If north went in the direction from the bottom left to the top right of the + intersection, then the blue house would be in the top right corner, the orange in the top left, the purple in the bottom left, and green in the bottom right.

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  §