8/13/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 33/ Day: 225   
Today: H 79°L 48°
Wind: ave:   5mph; Gusts:  28mph  Ave. humidity:  62%
Average Low      Average High
50°                        80°    
Record Low        Record High
36° (1999)           92° (1944)

Quote of the Day



Today’s Historical Highlights
1st taxicab (NYC)…1907
Construction of the Berlin Wall begins in East Germany…1961
Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley…1913
Spanish conquerors Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) from Aztecs…1521
US Court of Appeals rules congress must save all E-Mail…1993

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



My Free Rambling Thoughts   
Monday, Monday…what a day. Rain last night, none today, but a few clouds that still might dump some on us later tonight.  Just in time to ruin the view of the meteor shower.
 
A little pissed today. I got my bill for our local paper. I have always paid by annually, as it was the only way I could get it delivered when I was in Tuba.  Last year it was $168. This bill was for $219. Quite a jump, especially since they have gone from a 7 day to a 6 day paper this past year due to the cost of delivering the paper 7 days a week. I called to find out what was going on. The phone lady said that everyone had an increase in their bill. I said I understood the need for increases but this seemed a little extreme. She checked around and said I could get it for $185…which is about a 10% increase. I agreed, stating that even a 10% increase seemed a little steep. Then I went on line and found that I could have done a monthly rate for $160/year. This was not an introductory rate, it was the regular rate. This is a LOCAL paper, with LOCAL news and events but is owned by some newspaper conglomerate in Ohio. I called back and spoke to a different agent. She said the rate on the internet is less because the billing is direct to a credit card, bank to bank and not done by the finance office in Cincinnati. I asked why I hadn’t been told about this ‘deal’ when I paid, and she said our records show you have always done annual subscriptions. I said that was the only way I used to be able to get the paper. She didn’t offer to change my subscription nor did I ask. I’ll figure it out next year, but will be watching their web site to see if the monthly rate changes again. I know that the local paper wants my business and are very good about deliveries and correcting problems…it’s the corporate jerks that don’t see this as a small town newspaper.
 
I live at the base of Mt. Elden with about two blocks of houses between my place and the mountain. Just a little way down Highway 89…toward downtown…is a very popular parking lot for hikers who climb Mt. Elden on a series of trails. This morning there was an alert that some hikers were stranded on a ledge on the mountain. They got stranded after running away from a mountain lion they spotted. Then later today three hikers, one experienced, hurt his knee and needed to be rescued. They had spent the night on the mountain after trying to come down in the dark…doesn’t sound too experienced to me…but they reported that they had seen a bear on their way down.  No other alerts have come out and no reports have been published of finding tracks from these sightings. Certainly there is lots of wildlife on the mountain and it is not inconceivable that both animals are really there. I have to wonder, since both sets of hikers had to be ‘rescued’ by first responders, if the two stories were not slightly embellished to save face from making silly mistakes.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Below you will find three letter equations. Once you figure the answer to each equation, use those answers to figure out the answer to the fourth and final letter equation. Good luck!
1. O + F + C + S + B = WWF 2. H + T + TB + B + T = BF 3. SD + BD + X = PF
Take the answers from the equations above to figure out the fourth and final equation.
4. WWF + BF + PF = CB


Hint
1. This "family" contains a few family members that require reeds. 2. This "family" contains family members that need a "buzz" to get going. 3. This "family" contains family members that may need to be struck. 4. This is the compilation of all the families listed above.
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Hmmmm…Tongue Twisters
M    
Many an anemone sees an enemy anemone. ^^^ The minx mixed a medicinal mixture. ^^^ Mixed biscuits. ^^^ Mix, Miss, Mix! ^^^ Moose noshing much mush. ^^^ Mr. See owned a saw. And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw. Now See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw Before Soar saw See, Which made Soar sore. Had Soar seen See's saw Before See sawed Soar's seesaw, See's saw would not have sawed Soar's seesaw. So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw. But it was sad to see Soar so sore Just because See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw! ^^^ My dame hath a lame tame crane, My dame hath a crane that is lame. ^^^ The myth of Miss Muffet.
Ever wonder where the name came from?
Panasonic First used in the US in 1955, Panasonic is actually a brand name for electrical goods made by Matsushita Electric Industrial - the Japanese tech giant that first appeared in 1918. Matsushita chose the name Panasonic because it was unable to use its existing National brand in the Americas - there were simply too many other companies using ‘national’ as part of their name.
The National brand continues to be used in Japan although it, along with the name Matsushita, are expected to bow out this October. That's because current bosses are corralling the companies businesses under a single name with Panasonic - meaning ‘all’ and ‘sound’ - being the obvious choice.
Ok, then?



Harper’s Index    
  • Portion of English children born out of wedlock in 1981: 1/5
  • In 2011: 1/2

Songs with Double Meanings:
  • Salesman - The Monkees
  •  Key Double Lyric of song: "There goes salesman, and he's sailing high again" (1) This song is simply about an old time, everyday salesman, who sells his goods on the street instead of in a store; (2) This salesman is a drug dealer - selling his goods on the street - and also consuming some of them.
  • Sky Pilot - The Animals
  •  Key Triple Lyrics of song: "Sky pilot, how high can you fly, you'll never, never, ever reach the sky" (1) Taking a trip on LSD while the hallucinates make the user feel like they are soaring high in the sky.(2) During the Viet Nam war, some of the drafted US soldiers took hallucinates and did other drugs, their only escape from the war. They are the "sky pilots" the song is talking about. (3) Real meaning: A preacher is the sky pilot. He talks and prays to a group of soldiers during a war (the Viet Nam war was raging at the time of the song's release), just before they leave for a deadly battle. He tells them that they are "Soldiers of God " and "May God give you strengthdo your job real well". Yet while they fight and die, he stays behind and meditates. The lyrics point to the fact that even if he is a holy man, he will never make it to heaven ("you'll never, never, ever reach the sky") because he is really just a hypocrite. The real clue to this comes in this song's final lyrics: "In the morning they return, with tears in their eyes, the stench of death drifts up to the skies, a young soldier so ill looks at the sky pilot, remembers the words: 'Thou shall not kill'"

Unusual Fact of the Day
The Chinese used black pepper to cure cholera, Europeans used it as currency, and Attila the Hun demanded 3,000 pounds of the stuff in exchange for discontinuing his sacking of Rome.
Joke-of-the-day
A speaker at Democratic National Convention asked the audience, "Are you better off now?"
The audience answered in chorus voice, "Yes."
As soon as the loud voice turned silent, a delegate stood up and asked, "How did the GOP get better off?"
The speaker declared, "We all are on the same boat, remember?"
The delegate exasperated, "Yeah, Noah's Ark - animals in couples!"
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
DESIGNING A MODERN CHAIR
If you're designing a chair and want to know how well your design will stand the test of time, imagine 30 of them lined up in a Laundromat.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
 A woman intent on getting breast implants is begging for money on the street with a sign that reads, "Not homeless, need boobs."
"I just want bigger boobs because I'm not happy with the ones that I have. I figured this was a good way to do it," Christina Andrews said. "People put out signs that they're homeless. I'm not, so I'm just being honest."
Andrews said she was unsure what type of reaction she would get, or if she would get any cash, but things appear to be working out. She not only has more money, she has gotten plenty of smiles as well, she says.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • The name for the common cold began in the 1500s because the symptoms of this virus were so similar to what happened when people were out in cold weather for too long. 
  • Benjamin Franklin was one of the first to realize that the virus was mostly transmitted person-to-person in his 1773 "Hints Concerning What is Called Catching Cold." Franklin's take on how to steer clear of the ever-pesky cold? Exercise, bathing, and moderation in food and drink consumption.
  • Perhaps the biggest push ever made to figure out the direct cause of the common cold-and defeat it-was made by a British doctor in 1946. Doctor David Tyrrell formed a "collection of huts" in Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK, recruiting volunteers to get infected with cold germs so that they could be studied.
  • In the United States alone, conservative estimates place the number of doctor's visits due to the common cold at between 75-100 million. 
  • Common colds are definitely seasonal, happening much more often in the winter and much less in tropical areas.
  • Parents miss approximately 126 million work days to stay home and care for their children in recovery; add that to the 150 million workdays that employees miss from work for being sick themselves, and the common cold costs the US economy $20 billion per year.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
10-16
Elvis Week
Feeding Pets of the Homeless Week
Weird Contest Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        International Lefthander's Day
·        National Garage Sale Day
^^^
·        Central African Republic: Independence Day (1960 from France)
·        Tunisia: Women's Day

Today’s Events through History  
Cardinal Richelieu appointed Chief Minister of France by Louis XIII…1624
Jackie Joyner-Kersee ties world record with 24'5½" jump…1987
Revolutionaries imprison French royals including Marie Antoinette…1792

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Danny Bonaduce, actor (Danny-Partridge Family)/Chicago DJ (WLUP) is 54
Fidel Castro, dictator/prime minister/president is 87
Pat Harrington Jr, actor (Danny Thomas Show, 1 Day at a Time) is 84
Kevin Tighe, actor (Newsie, Another 48 Hours, K-9) is 69

Remembered for being born today
John Logie Baird, Scotland, inventor (father of TV) [1888-1946]
Neville Brand, actor (DOA, Eaten Alive) [1920-1992]
William A Craigie, Scottish lexicographer (Skotlands Rimur) [1867-1957]
Johann Christoph Denner, inventor (clarinet) [1655-1707]
Dan Fogelberg, rocker (Same Auld Lang Syne) [1951-2007]
Alfred Hitchcock, London, director (Psycho, Birds, Rear Window) [1899-1980]
Don Ho, Hawaii, ukulele player (Tiny Bubbles) [1930-2007]
Ben Hogan, PGA golfer (US Open 1950, 51, 53) [19112-1997]
Bert Lahr, [Irving Lahrheim], US comic/actor (Lion-Wizard of Oz) [1895-1967]
Annie Oakley [Phoebe Ann Moses], sharp shooter (Buffalo Bill's Wild West) [1860-1926]
George Gabriel Stokes, physicist/mathematician (spectroscope) [1819-1903]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Helen Gurley Brown, American author/publisher…2012…at 90
Julia Child, American chef and television personality…2004…t 91
Mickey Mantle, baseball great (NY Yankees)…cancer…1995…at 63
Edwin Newman, American broadcast journalist…2010…at 91
Florence Nightingale, English nurse…1910…at 90
Joe E Ross, comedian (Toody-Car 54, Phil Silvers Show)…heart attack…1982…at 68
Jeremy Taylor, Irish author and bishop…fever…1667…at 53
H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, sci-fi author (Time Machine)…heart attack?...1946…at 79

Brain Teasers
1. Oboe + Flute + Clarinet + Saxophone + Bassoon = Woodwind Family
The hint for this equation states that "some family members require reeds". Flutes do not use reeds to produce sound, while all other instruments in this group do.

2. Horn + Trumpet + Trombone + Baritone + Tuba = Brass Family
The hint for this equation states that they require a "buzz" to get going. This is because you need to buzz your lips together to produce a sound.

3. Snare Drum + Bass Drum + Xylophone = Percussion Family
The hint for this equation suggests that family members need to be struck to get going. This means each one of the instruments listed require that you hit them with a stick to produce a sound. (The list of Percussion instruments provided in this equation is by no means a complete list.)

4. Woodwind Family + Brass Family + Percussion Family = Concert Band  
This is the standard instrumentation for most concert bands.
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  §

8/12/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 33/ Day: 224   
Today: H 74°L 47°
Wind: ave:   6mph; Gusts:  21mph  Ave. humidity:  48%
Average Low      Average High
50°                        80°     
Record Low        Record High
36° (1900)           91° (1980)
Quote of the Day



Today’s Historical Highlights
1st war between American colonists & Indians ends in New England…1676
23rd Olympic Games close at Los Angeles…1984
Chicago is founded...1833
9th Olympic Games close in Amsterdam…1928
30th Olympics close in London…2012
Gold discovered at Klondike River at Dawson…1896
Last American combat ground troops leave Vietnam…1972

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



My Free Rambling Thoughts   
Quiet Sunday with a nice rainstorm followed by a cloudless sky. Yesterday there were two lightning caused small fires near Flagstaff. So strange…with all this moisture I was living under the unfounded conclusion that our forest was safer. There were reports of the fire, but nothing more, so I am assuming that they were small and contained quickly.
 
Glad to see the young girl kidnapped by the family friend was safely reunited with her dad. So sad that she saw the murder of her younger brother, mother, and her kidnapper. She has a long road ahead, especially if the kidnapper did anything else to her.
 
Tomorrow is the first day of school for our local kids…Rez kids have been back about a week. That means that our neighborhood will be more quiet during the day once again. I actually will miss all the kids running around, chasing, playing, and having such a good time. I also know that within a week the noise level will increase again about 3:30 every school day. It seems to take about a week for the ‘new’ school year to kick in and for things to get back to normal.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
The following are anagrams of countries. Can you decipher all of them?
1. Glib Emu 2. Neat Grain 3. Age Lens 4. Dark Men 5. Serial

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Hmmmm…Tongue Twisters
L 
A laurel-crowned clown.
^^^
The Leith police dismisseth us.
^^^
A laurel-crowned clown. ^^^ The Leith police dismisseth us. ^^^Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better. ^^^ Lily ladles little Letty's lentil soup. ^^^ Listen to the local yokel yodel. ^^^ Lovely lemon liniment.
Ever wonder where the name came from?
JVC
The company that saw off Sony in the great video format war of the 1970s owes its roots to US firm the Victor Talking Machine Company, which established a subsidiary in Yokohama in 1927.
The Victor Company of Japan (aka JVC) started off making phonographs (vinyl turntables) before eventually making its name selling color TVs and, of course, VHS video recorders. JVC’s corporate website claims that one of its engineers, Kenjiro Takayanagi, was also the first person in the world to project an image on to a cathode ray tube.
Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    
Amount North Dakota’s Attorney General requested the state to budget for legal challenges to the new abortion law: $400,000
Songs with Double Meanings:
  • Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul and Mary
  •  Since its release, some have claimed this song was about smoking marijuana. For example, there are several so called double meanings to the song: The word "paper" in the name of Puff's human friend (Jackie Paper) was said to be a reference to rolling papers, and the word "dragon" was interpreted as "draggin'" (inhaling smoke); similarly, the name "Puff" was alleged to be a reference to taking a "puff" on a joint. Of course, nobody takes a "puff" on a joint (you take a "hit", or "toke" on a joint), and the song's authors have flat out said the song is only about a little boy who grows up and no longer plays with his favorite toy anymore. Therefore, there are no true double meaning lyrics in this song.
  • Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 - Bob Dylan
  •  Key Triple Lyric of song: "Everybody must get stoned" (1) That everybody will get treated wrong sometime in their lives; (2) Main/real meaning, one: About getting stoned (high) on marijuana; (3) Main/real meaning, two: Comes from both Bible stories and about the mistreatment of women in Islamic countries who are subject to stoning for some of the most insane reasons.

Unusual Fact of the Day
The Netherlands’ national anthem is really only the first and sixth verses of a 15-verse extravaganza written in honor of the Dutch Prince William of Orange.
Joke-of-the-day
A butcher saw a Lawyer passing by his shop one day, and asked him: Atty., what would you do if a dog came in and stole your meat?
Lawyer replied: why? of course, I’ll make the owner pay for it!
The butcher said: If that is so, now you owe me $15 because it is your dog.
The Lawyer replied: very well, just deduct the $15 from the $25 you owe me for the advice, I’ll collect the remaining $10 the next time I pass by here.
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
GIVING ADVICE TO A FRIEND
Nine out of ten times when a friend is discussing a problem, he or she is not looking for a solution from you. Listen carefully. It is only ten percent who actually need help. The rest just need to be heard and have an assurance that you stand by them.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
DETROIT - A long distance swimmer has completed his 22-mile trip across a Michigan lake while towing a ton of bricks after more than 50 hours in the water. Jim Dreyer, 49, arrived at Detroit's Belle Island at 11:15 a.m. Wednesday after starting his Lake St. Clair swim at 8:36 a.m. Monday while towing two inflatable boats filled with a total 1 ton of bricks, Mlive.com reported Thursday. Dreyer, an experienced long-distance swimmer who has previously crossed Lake Superior, said his trip took about 21 hours longer than he expected because he drifted back some when he fell asleep and he spent some time lost. He made the swim without the help of a support boat. The swimmer said the bricks he towed across the lake will be auctioned off to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt was the only US president elected four times.
  • George Washington is the only man whose birthday is a legal holiday in every state of the United States.
  • Gerald Ford was the only US president not to have been elected to either the presidency or the vice presidency.
  • Giraffes are the only animals born with horns. Both males and females are born with bony knobs on the forehead.
  • Grover Cleveland is the only US president to have been married in the White House.
  • Hawaii has the only royal palace in the United States - Iolani.


Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
10-16
Elvis Week
Feeding Pets of the Homeless Week
Weird Contest Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        IBM PC Day 1981
·        International Youth Day
·        Sewing Machine Day
·        Vinyl Record Day

Today’s Events through History  
1st National Archery Association tournament (Chicago)…1879
1st US police corps forms (New Amsterdam)…1658
Canada, Mexico, and the United States announce completion of negotiations for 
     the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)…1992
ICE is launched…1978
Juan Ponce de Leon arrives in Puerto Rico…1508
Kumeyaay Indians fight with the Spaniards who have established the Mission 
     San Diego de Alcala in what becomes San Diego…1769
Nelson Mandela is treated for tuberculosis at hospital…1988
Pres Eisenhower raises minimum wage from 75 cents to $1 an hour…1955

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
George Hamilton, tanned actor (Love at 1st Bite, Where the Boys Are) is 74
Peter Krause, film/television actor, director, and producer is 48
Pete Sampras, tennis champ (14 grand slam titles) is 42
Ralph Waite, actor (John-Waltons, Roots) is 86

Remembered for being born today
Katharine Lee Bates, US, author (America the Beautiful) [1859-1929]
"Diamond Jim" Brady, American financier [1856-1917]
Cecil B deMille, directed God (10 Commandments, Cleopatra) [1881-1959]
John Derek, actor/director (10, Annapolis Story) [1926-1998]
Robert Mills, US, architect (Washington Monument) [1781-1855]
Cantinflas, [Mario Moreno], Mexico, actor (Around World in 80 Days) [1911-1983]
Buck Owens, [Alvis Edgar], country singer (Hee Haw) [1929-2006]
Mary Roberts Rinehart, mystery writer (Miss Pinkerton) [1876-1958]
Porter Wagoner, country singer, discovered Dolly Parton (Y'All Come) [1927-2007]
Jane Wyatt, actress (Father Knows Best, Star Trek) [1910-2006]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
William Blake, English poet/painter…1827…at 69
Cleopatra VII Philopator, the last ruler of the Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty…suicide...
     30BC…at 38ish
Ian L Fleming, British journalist/writer (James Bond)…heart attacks…1964…at 56
Henry Fonda, actor (On Golden Pond)…heart disease…1982…at 77
Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., brother of JFK…WWII secret mission…1944…at 29
Thomas Mann, German writer (Dr Faustus, Nobel 1929)…1955…at 80
Les Paul (Lester William Polsfuss) American musician/inventor…2009…at 94

Brain Teasers
1. Belgium 2. Argentina 3. Senegal 4. Denmark 5. Israel
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.