4-20 Easter

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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 117  / Week: 17 
Today: L 33°…H 60°… Ave. humidity: 59%
     Wind: ave:   9mph; Gusts:  11mph  
     Average Low: 28° Record Low:  8° (1966)
    Average High: 60° Record High:  78° (1989)
     

Quote of the Day

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people. Virginia Woolf  

Today’s Historical Highlights

1505 - Jews are expelled from Orange Burgundy

1537: de Soto receives royal permission to "conquer, pacify, and people" the land from Rio de las Palmas to Cape Fear (Florida) on the Atlantic.
1759 - George Frederic Handel is buried in Westminster Abbey
1799 - Napoleon issues a decree calling for establishing Jerusalem for Jews
1836 - Territory of Wisconsin created
1841 - 1st detective story (Poe's "Murders in Rue Morgue") published
1879 - 1st mobile home (horse drawn) used in a journey from London & Cyprus
1902 - Marie & Pierre Curie isolate the radioactive element radium chloride
1940 - 1st electron microscope demonstrated (RCA), Philadelphia
1977 - Woody Allen's film "Annie Hall" premieres
1999 - Columbine High School massacre: Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold kill 13 people and injured 24 others
2013 - 5 snowboarders are killed by an avalanche in Loveland Pass, CO

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫  

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays below

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Happy Easter/Ishtar everyone! Another overcast day…that’s basically two in a row. Last night did bring some a light much needed rain. Only hope these grey clouds decide to dump some more moisture on our very dry mountain town and forest.

After years with Windows 7 learning new quirks of Windows 8.1 is frustrating but I am getting it slowly. I would probably be better if I spent more time on using it, but I still have a life beyond my computer. Guess it will all come eventually. The most frustrating thing so far is the many many pop ups that suggest I upgrade something…I quickly learned that they all lead to commercial sites that try to download crap too. I have a security program and it stops these downloads, but then has to scan the computer to be sure that everything was erased…a good thing…but a little time consuming.

CNN keeps coming up with new ways to show us about the search for the missing plane. For weeks we watched a flight simulator and how the plane changed course, now they have decided to show the underwater recovery of the black box. Even if the box is found, it is a lot like those machines that used to be in kids places, where you put in a dollar and used a grabbing devise to get a stuffed animal. Few got the animal and the grabber seldom worked in the easy way it appeared. I have lost my fascination with the whole thing and really don’t need to hear anymore until the damn plane debris or the damn plane is found.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

My first is simply a vegetable, delicious, round and green.

My third and fourth are sound asleep, as plainly can be seen.

My fifth is fifty, clear enough for any riddle-setter.

Two of my second stacked on their sides will give my final letter.

Now that my second has my parts, fit them together well.

You see me now before your eyes; it's plain for all to tell.

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Benny Hill - Australia Bum Dreams

CANTINFLAS

Johnny Tillotson - Poetry In Motion

Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father

OK Then…

As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.

Buddy Hackett

Harper’s Index 

Portion of immigrant detainees in the US who are held in privately run prisons: 2/5

Unusual Fact of the Day

Albert Einstein never learned how to drive.           

Joke-of-the-day

The lawyer was cross-examining a witness.

“Isn’t it true, “he bellowed, “that you were I given $500.00 to throw this case?”

The witness did not answer. Instead, he just stared out the window as though he hadn’t heard the question. The attorney repeated himself, again getting the same reaction - no response.

Finally, the judge spoke to the witness, “Please answer the question.”

“Oh,” said the startled witness, “I thought he was talking to you.”

Rules of Thumb:   

TRANSLATING GREEK

If you can't identify a word in a Greek sentence, it is a verb with a prefix. To figure it out, go through the lexicon chopping off one letter from the front at a time.

Yeah, It Really Happened

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (UPI) - A Florida judge was a little surprised when a bailiff announced the name of a man who was appearing in his courtroom on drug possession charges. Edward Cocaine. "What?" Judge John "Jay" Hurley responded. "You know, I'd thought I'd seen it all." Mr. Cocaine explained. "My last name is Cocaine," he said. "My great-grandparents came over here from Greece and they changed it. That was like in the 1920s." "How many times have the police told you to step out of the car during your life?" Hurley asked. "Just about every time I get pulled over," Cocaine replied. The 34-year-old, who was accused of possessing Xanax, was released on his own recognizance.

Somewhat Useless Information   

Inflation-adjusted federal tax revenues hit a record $1,320,793,000,000 in the first half of fiscal 2014, but the federal government still ran a $413,264,000,000 deficit during that time.

If someone reports their company for tax evasion in the U.S., he or she will receive 30 percent of the amount collected.

Calendar Information        

Today Is   

Chinese Language Day

Easter (Christian)
National Equal Pay Day

National Pot Smokers Day                                                                  

Plum Pudding Day

Today’s Events through History  

1606: 1st charter of Virginia, issued today, part of the colonists goals are to civilize the natives. "...and may in time bring the infidels and savages, living in those parts, to human civility."

1865 - Chicago's Crosby Opera House opens
1974 - Paul McCartney & Wings release single "Band on the Run"
1992 - 100th episode of "Murphy Brown" airs
2008 - Danica Patrick wins the Indy Japan 300 becoming the first female driver in history to win an Indy car race.

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Mother Angelica, American nun and broadcaster is 91

George Takei, actor (Sulu-Star Trek) is 77

Johnny Tillotson, singer (Gidget, Poetry in Motion) is 75

Ryan O'Neal, actor (Love Story, Paper Moon) is 73

Jessica Lange, actress (King Kong, Tootsie) is 65

Shemar Moore, actor (Crimnal Minds) is 44

Carmen Electra [Tara Leigh Patrick], model and actress is 42

Joey Lawrence, actor (Blossom) is 38

 

Remembered for being born today

1889-1945 - Adolf Hitler, Austrian-born dictator and Führer of Nazi Germany

1923-2000 - Tito Puente, Puerto Rico, bandleader (Dance Mania)

1924-2008 - Nina Foch, Leiden Netherlands, actress (American in Paris)

1951-2005 - Luther Vandross, rock vocalist (Dance with my Father)

 

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Dorothy Height, American civil rights activist, 2010, @ 98

Cantinflas, [Mario Moreno], Mexican actor (Pepe), 1993, @ 81

George Clinton, 4th US VP, 1st VP to die in office, 1812, @ 72

Benny Hill, comedian (Benny Hill Show), heart attack, 1992, @68

Bram Stoker, Irish theater manager/writer (Dracula), stroke, 1912, @64

Pontiac (Obwandiyag), Ottawa chief to Ottawa, murdered, 1769, @ 49ish

Elizabeth Barton, [St Magd van Kent], British prophet, 1534, @ 28ish

Abigail Williams, American accuser in the Salem trials, 1765, @ 17

 

Brain Teasers                                         

Puzzle

My first is simply a vegetable, delicious, round and green. - Pea / P

My third and fourth are sound asleep, as plainly can be seen. - ZZ

My fifth is fifty, clear enough for any riddle-setter. - L (Roman Numeral)

Two of my second on their sides will give my final letter. - E (Take 2 U's and stack them sideways.)

Now that my second has my parts, fit them together well. - Now that YOU (u) have my parts...

You see me now before your eyes; it's plain for all to tell.

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  §

 

4-19-14

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

Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 109  / Week: 16 

Today: L 34°…H 55°… Ave. humidity: 39%

     Wind: ave:   5mph; Gusts:  8mph  

     Average Low: 28° Record Low:  10° (1917)

    Average High: 59° Record High:  77° (1989)

           

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1770 - Captain James Cook 1st sights Australia

1775 - American Revolution begins - shot "heard round the world"

1861 - Lincoln orders blockade of Confederate ports (Civil War)

1897 - 1st American marathon ran, John J McDermott wins in 2:55:10 (Boston)

1909 - Joan of Arc receives beatification

1911 - George Bernard Shaw's "Fanny's First Play" premieres in London

1923 - New Egyptian law allows suffrage for men, except soldiers

1932 - President Herbert Hoover suggests 5 day work week

1943 - Bicycle Day - Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann deliberately takes LSD for the first time.

1945 - Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "Carousel" opens on Broadway

1982 - 11th Boston Women's Marathon won by Charlotte Teske of Ger in 2:29:33

1982 - Rosie Ruiz, marathon race cheater, arrested for forgery

1987 - Jacqueline Blanc, sets women's downhill ski speed rec (124.902 mph)

1993 - Branch Davidians in Waco Texas dies in fire after 51 day siege

2005 - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected Pope Benedict XVI 

2011 - Fidel Castro resigns

 

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫  

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

A quite Friday to end the week. Did some house cleaning/straightening today. Lazy since I stayed up last night watching movies. Sent a little time, about an hour, leaning more about Windows 8.1. Slowly getting it.  Guess you can teach an old-er dog new tricks.

So many here in the US don’t seem to understand, or want to understand a different culture. The very sad sinking of the Korean ferry has many shaking their heads, wondering why the youth listened to the authorities who said not to evacuate and then the suicide of the Vice-Principal who did survive but couldn’t live with the fact that so many of his charges did not. While I don’t begin to understand that culture, I can recognize that complete obedience to elders and the importance of protecting your charges is utmost in that culture’s survival.

 It is Good Friday and I had a childhood memory. As a pre-teen my mom would load up my brother and I and meet Marie and her brood of 6 or 7 at various Catholic churches. We were not Catholic, but Marie and her family were. Her husband, Jim, had introduced my mom to my dad. They all remained friends for many years until Jim and Marie moved to Tucson and became over the top Catholic. I was always one who enjoyed the splendor of a church, the burning incense, the candle lit sanctuary, and all the traditions of entering a Catholic church.  Every time I enter a church while on a trip, I remember those Good Friday visits to magnificent Denver churches. Great memory for sure.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers
Based on the clue in parentheses, find a four-letter word that can be inserted backwards into the blank to complete a longer word.
Example: di____ve (a defeat)
Answer: dissolve ("A defeat" gives you LOSS, which is placed backwards in the blank: di_SSOL_ve.)

1. ey____es (stood up)

2. li____er (open meshed fabrics)

3. r____ant (body part)

4. for____b (distance)

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Jayne Mansfield on visiting U.S. troops

Maria Sharapova on Her Game Sound Effects

Mr Green Jeans with music

Peter Cook and Dudley Moore

OK Then…

Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.

Benjamin Franklin

Harper’s Index 

Percentage of black students in Illinois who attend school where whites make up less than one percent of the student body: 41

Unusual Fact of the Day

Heil Honey I'm Home! a British show about the escapades of Hitler, Eva Braun, and their Jewish neighbors, was canceled after one episode in 1990.   

Joke-of-the-day

During training exercises, the Lieutenant driving down a muddy back road encountered another car stuck in the mud with a red-faced colonel at the wheel.

"Your jeep stuck, sir?" asked the Lieutenant as he pulled alongside.

"Nope," replied the Colonel, coming over and handing him the keys, "Yours is."

Rules of Thumb:   

The Psychotherapy rule

It is time to stop when you forget your appointment and are not bothered by it.

Yeah, It Really Happened

CULPEPER, Va. (UPI) - A Virginia jury has ordered a 53-year-old man to pay $5,001 to his former coworker after he admitted to putting something in his coffee -- and it wasn't cream and sugar. A jury in Culpeper County Circuit Court ordered James Carroll Butler to pay Michael Utz for spiking his coffee pot with pee in March 2009 while they were both working at the town's wastewater plant. The jury found that Butler, who had worked at the plant for 17 years before leaving in 2009, had "personal ill will and spite" towards Utz. When the tainted coffee pot was tested, lab results revealed that the strange brew contained urine and fecal material. The plant mechanic had been seeking $378,000 in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages. "I done something I am very much ashamed of to a co-worker for [reasons, which are] stress-related [and] things going on in my life on and off the job. I am very much ashamed of my stupid and childlike behavior," Butler wrote in a letter from March 2009. Utz's attorney, Michael Sharman, told the Star Exponent that his client is "really, really happy about the victory and he's glad it's done."

Somewhat Useless Information   

In 2012, Americans spent nearly $2.1 billion on Easter candy, while Halloween sales were over $2 billion; Christmas, more than $1.4 billion; and Valentine's Day, over $1 billion.

Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year.

In 1953, it took 27 hours to create a Marshmallow Peep. Today it takes six minutes. Yellow Peeps are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue, and white.

Jellybeans did not become an Easter tradition until the 1930s. They were probably first made in America by Boston candy maker William Schrafft, who ran advertisements urging people to send jellybeans to soldiers fighting in the Civil War.

Hot cross buns were among the earliest Easter treats, made by European monks and given to the poor during Lent.

Pretzels were originally associated with Easter. The twists of a pretzel were thought to resemble arms crossed in prayer.

Calendar Information        

Today Is                                                                      

John Parker Day

National Hanging Out Day

Passover / Pesach (Jewish)

Patriots' Day (Fla)       

Today’s Events through History  

607 - Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0898 AUs of Earth

1910 - Halley's comet seen by naked eye 1st time this trip (Curacao)

1934 - Shirley Temple appears in her 1st movie, "Stand Up & Cheer"

1975 - India launches 1st satellite with help of USSR

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Hugh O'Brian, [Krampke], actor (Wyatt Earp, Search) is 88

Elinor Donahue, actress (Father Knows Best, Get a Life) is 77

Tim Curry, actor (Rocky Horror Show) is 68

Al Unser Jr, Indy-car racer (over 10 wins) is 52

Ashley Judd, actress, activist is 46

James Franco, actor, director is 36

Kate Hudson, actress (Almost Famous, You, Me and Dupree) is 35

Hayden Christensen, Canadian actor (Star Wars) is 32

Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player is 27

Remembered for being born today

1832-1918 - Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, 1st lady

1903-1957 - Eliot Ness, untouchable (FBI agent-Chicago)

1920-1978 - Frank Fontaine, comedian (Crazy Guggenheim)

1930-1994 - Dick Sargent, American actor (Bewitched)

1933-1967 - Jayne Mansfield, [Vera Jane Palmer], actress (Fat Spy)

1935-2002 - Dudley Moore, actor (10, Arthur, Bedazzled, 6 Weeks)

 

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Simon Fraser, Canadian explorer, 1862, @86

Roger Williams, English theologian and colonist, 1684, @84

Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum, Actor (Mr Green Jeans), cancer, 1987, @77

Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl (Beaconsfield)/novelist, 1881, @ 76

Charles Darwin, naturalist (Origin of Species), heart disease, 1882, @73

George Gorden Noel "Lord" Byron, poet, sepsis, 1924, @36

 Brain Teasers                                         

1. eyesores (ROSE - ey_ESOR_es)

2. listener (NETS - li_STEN_er)

3. resonant (NOSE - r_ESON_ant)

4. forelimb (MILE - for_ELIM_b)

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  §