Jan 14

 

2021…at last

Jan 14, 2021  Week: 2  Day: 14	Local:  H 50°\ L 25°\Ave. Sky Cover: 35%
Wind:  2 mph\Gusts:  4mph	Today’s Ave. Temp.: H 42°\ L 17°
Nearest lightning:2044mi.; Active fire:  59mi	High Risk of Fire           Visibility:  10mi
Record: 65°[1943]   Record: -15°[2017]	Jan Averages: 44°/16° (4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.

-Hal Borland

Random Tidbits

Deadly Plant: Oleander

This extremely common evergreen shrub is one of the most poisonous plants in the world. The leaves, flowers and fruit contain cardiac glycosides, which have therapeutic applications but are likely to send someone into cardiac arrest should he eat part of the plant.

 

Deadly Plant: Mala Mujer

Mala mujer, which translates to "bad woman," can be found in parts of the southwest and Mexico and is covered with nasty thorns, which could be turned into makeshift barbwire if needed. The real danger, however, comes from the caustic, milky sap that can leak from the plant. The sap, a common feature among many plants in the Euphorbia genus, can cause painful skin irritations and unsightly discoloration.

A Little Humor

You come from dust, you return to dust…that’s why I don’t dust, it might be someone I knew.

 

I just stepped on a cornflake. Now I’m an official cereal killer

Interestng facts about AZ

Ø The world's largest to-scale collection of miniature airplane models is housed at the library at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona.

Ø The only place in the country where mail is delivered by mule is the village of Supai, located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Ø Located on Arizona's western border, Parker Dam is the deepest dam in the world at 320 feet.

Weekly Observations

National Mocktail Week	10-16
Cuckoo Dancing Week	11-17

 

Today’s Observations

Asarah B'Tevet: 12-14

Caesarean Section Day
Dress Up Your Pet Day Link 
International Kite Day
National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day

Organize Your Home Day Link
Ratification Day
World Logic Day

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Mid-week and it is finally warming up.

Lots of people are talking about the impeachment…that is about all that is on TV’s alphabet channels. Sadly, this is not uniting the country. The division in our country continues to grow. Sad. As this goes on the current administration is working overtime to get rid of environmental and immigration rules. Even sadder.

Pelosi ordered metal detectors at the door into the House chambers after the breech last week. Republicans were outraged, and some refused a search after setting off the alarm. Despicable.

The AIA (AZ Interscholastic Assoc] met yesterday and reversed it’s decision on canceling winter sports. Games and matches will be held, with only 2 parents of the home team allowed to be in attendance. Masks are required. Good news for HS senior athletes, I hope it works.

AZ is very slow in distributing the vaccine. Looks like 65–74-year-olds will start getting it in February. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Daily Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

My voice is tender, my waist is slender, and I’m often invited to play. Yet wherever I go I must take my bow or else I have nothing to say. What am I?

Historical Events

1690 – The Clarinet was invented in Nurnberg, Germany

1878 – U.S. Supreme Court rules that race separation on trains is unconstitutional

1914 – Henry Ford opened his assembly-line Model-T factory

1952 – NBC’s Today Show debuted.

1954 – NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio married actress Marilyn Monroe.

1954 – The Hudson Motor Car Company merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation forming the American Motors Corporation.

1967 – The Summer of Love took place, starting at San Francisco’s ‘The Human Be-In.’

1973 – The Miami Dolphins complete the first undefeated season by winning Superbowl VII.

1973 – Elvis Presley’s Aloha From Hawaii Special, was seen by over 1 billion viewers. Since it was on the same day as Superbowl VII, it was shown later (April 3, 1973) in the US.

1981 – FCC ended limitation on TV commercials.

1989 1,000 Muslims burn Salman Rushdie's' "Satanic Verses" in Bradford, England

1995 Mexico pledges profits from state-owned Pemex's $7-billion-per-year oil revenues in an effort to secure US congressional approval of loan guarantees; President Clinton approves a $20-billion U.S. aid package for Mexico

2007 Legendary Russian test pilot Marina Popovich is awarded the honorary title "The Hero of the Nation" by the Russian Federation

2019 US President Donald Trump denies he is a Russian agent after NY Times article states the FBI started an investigation and the Washington Post raised issues over a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin

2020 US game show Jeopardy "greatest of all time" tournament won by Ken Jennings

 

Birthdays Today

@100 – Hal Roach, American director, producer (d. 1992)

@92 – Andy Rooney, journalist, critic, television personality (d. 2011)

@90 – Albert Schweitzer, French-Gabonese physician, philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1965)

83 – Jack Jones, American singer, actor

80 – Faye Dunaway, American actress

78 – Holland Taylor, TV actor

@77 – Mark Goodson, American game show producer, created Family Feud and The Price Is Right (d. 1992; cancer)

@75 – Julian Bond, American academic, politician (d. 2015; vascular disease)

69 – Maureen Dowd, American journalist and author

@60 – Benedict Arnold, American-British general (d. 1801; dropsy)

57 – Shepard Smith, American television journalist

@53 – Mark Antony, Roman general and politician (d. 30 BCE; suicide)

53 – LL Cool J (James Todd Smith), American rapper and actor

52 – Dave Grohl, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer

Puzzle Answer

A violin.

 

Jan 13

 

2021…at last

Jan 13, 2021  Week: 2  Day: 13	Local:  H 37°\ L 7°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%
Wind:   5mph\Gusts:  6mph	Today’s Ave. Temp.: H 42°\ L 1°
Nearest lightning: 1152mi.; Active fire: 59mi	Moderate Risk of Fire           Visibility:  10mi
Record: 59°[2000]   Record: -7°[2013]	Jan Averages: 44°/16° (4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

We build statues out of snow, and weep to see them melt.

-Walter Scott

Random Tidbits

The knight's role has been stable over time. Even in the earliest versions of the game, it represented the cavalry and had the unique ability to leap over its opponents.

Blindfold chess is real and documented in world records. It is as it sounds: a player makes all of his or her moves without looking at a board. Usually there is a "middleman" of sorts to give and receive moves for the game.

Blindfold chess is an impressive skill that many stronger chess players possess. It certainly requires a keen ability to see the board clearly, which can get difficult after many moves. The record was set in 1960 in Budapest by Hungarian Janos Flesch, who played 52 opponents simultaneously while blindfolded - he won 31 of those games.

A Little Humor

Whiskey Wednesday…it’s like Taco Tuesday for the badasses.

Day 12 without chocolate…Lost hearing in my left eye.

The 12 steps of the chocoholic program: Never be more than 12 steps from chocolate

True Things

What else could Covid possibly ruin?

The organizers of the No Pants Subway Ride, an annual January event held on public transport in more than a dozen cities worldwide, announced the 2021 event has been canceled. Improv Everywhere, the performance art group that has organized the No Pants Subway Ride since the first event was held in 2002 in New York City, said this year's sans-pants public transit trek has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are canceling the annual No Pants Subway Ride this year," Improv Everywhere said on the event's official website. "We look forward to hosting more large-scale events once it is safe to do so again." Previous years have seen organized groups of subway riders taking per-determined commuter train routes in their underwear in cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Berlin, Calgary, Dallas, Mexico City, Tokyo, London, Lisbon, St. Peterburg, Melbourne and San Francisco.

Interestng facts about AZ

Ø When England's famous London Bridge was replaced in the 1960s, the original was purchased, dismantled, shipped stone by stone and reconstructed in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where it still stands today.

Ø Mount Lemmon, Tucson, in the Santa Catalina Mountains, is the southernmost ski resort in the United States.

Ø Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch in Picacho, Arizona is the largest privately-owned ostrich ranch in the world outside South Africa.

Weekly Observations

National Mocktail Week	10-16
Cuckoo Dancing Week	11-17

 

Today’s Observations

Asarah B'Tevet: 12-14
Clean Off Your Desk Day
Korean American Day  Link
Make Your Dreams Come True Day

International Skeptics Day

Make Your Dream Come True Day

National Gluten-Free Day
National Rubber Duckie Day

National Sticker Day  Link
National Take the Stairs Day 

National Take the Stairs Day 

National Peach Melba Day

Public Radio Broadcasting Day
Rubber Ducky Day
Stephen Foster Day

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

It is certainly still winter here. Just wish there was some moisture to go with these cold temps.

Now I read that all 50 state capitols are on heightened alert for the inauguration. This is getting profoundly serious. During the attack on the capitol, some of the Republican Representatives that were put in a safe room for a couple of hours refused to wear their masks. Now several Dems are claiming they tested positive because of their colleagues weren’t wearing masks. So sad. In prep for the inauguration, the Washington Monument has closed for tours. I’m guessing this happens at most inaugurations. 

Daily Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

What fastens two people yet touches only one?

Historical Events

1854 – US patent (#11062) for an accordion was issued to Anthony Faas of Philadelphia, Pa.

1863 – Thomas Crapper invented the portable toilet.

1888 – National Geographic Society was founded in Washington, D.C.

1930 – Disney’s ‘Mickey Mouse’ newspaper strip first appeared.

1959 – Motown Records is formed in Detroit.

1962 – Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors scored 73 points against Chicago

1978 – United States Food and Drug Administration began requiring all blood donations to be labeled “paid” or “volunteer” donors.

1986 – Johnny Cash performed his famous Folsom County Jail show.

2005 – US Surgeon General, Richard H. Carmona, issued a national health advisory to warn the public about the risks of breathing indoor radon.

2007 Two thirds of the Venus's southern hemisphere suddenly brightened as something triggered aerosols to form at a furious rate.

2012 Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia runs aground at Isola de Giglio, Italy, causing 32 deaths

2020 Oldest material existing on earth at 7.5 billion years old revealed by scientists studying the Murchison meteorite that fell to earth in Australia in 1960s

Birthdays Today

@91 – Michael Bond, English soldier, author, created Paddington Bear (d. 2017)

@90 – Sophie Tucker, Russian-born American singer and actress (d. 1966)

@88 – Alfred Fuller – American businessman: Fuller Brush Man (d. 1973)

@88 – Rip Taylor, American comedic actor (d. 2019)

@84 – Robert Stack, American actor (d. 2003)

@76 – Charles Nelson Reilly, American comedic actor (d.2007; pneumonia)

@67 – Horatio Alger, Jr, American author (d. 1899)

60 – Julia Louis-Dreyfus, American actress

58 – Trace Adtkins, American singer/songwriter

55 – Patrick Dempsey, actor

@48 – Brandon Tartikoff, American screenwriter, producer (d. 1997; cancer)

46 – Andrew Yang, Entrepreneur, politician

44 – Orlando Bloom, English actor

43 – Nate Silver, American journalist and statistician

30 – Liam Hemsworth, Australian actor

Puzzle Answer

A wedding ring.

 

Jan 12

 

2021…at last

Jan  12, 2021  Week: 2  Day: 12	Local:  H 35°\ L 12°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%
Wind:   8mph\Gusts:  14mph	Today’s Ave. Temp.: H 42°\ L 17°
Nearest lightning: 1574mi.; Active fire: 59mi	Low Risk of Fire           Visibility:  10mi
Record:59°[2002] Record:-20°[1963]	Jan Averages: 44°/16° (4 days with moisture)

Today’s Quote

And finally Winter, with its bitin', whinin' wind,

and all the land will be mantled with snow.

Roy Bean

Random Tidbits

The word "Checkmate" in Chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the King is dead."

The rook is named from an Arabic word rukh, meaning chariot. This reflects its ability to move quickly in straight lines, but not leap over obstacles. During the Middle Ages, when chariots were no longer in use, the rook was gradually modified to look more like the turret of a castle.

A Little Humor

We have all seen the ‘caution: men at work’ signs. Women are always working and don’t need a sign.

I’m pretty sure the guy who put that first  ‘r’ in February also decided how to spell Wednesday.

True Things

'Kids do find genitals funny.'

The Danish equivalent of the BBC, DR, has a new animated series aimed at four- to eight-year-olds about John Dillermand, the man with the world's longest penis. But it's not just long. His record-breaking genitals can perform rescue operations, etch murals, hoist a flag and even steal ice-cream from children. Unsurprisingly, the series has provoked debate about what good children's television should - and should not - contain. Since premiering, opponents have condemned the idea of a man who cannot control his penis. "Is this really the message we want to send to children while we are in the middle of a huge #MeToo wave?" wrote the Danish author Anne Lise Marstrand-Jorgensen. Erla Heinesen Hojsted, a clinical psychologist who works with families and children, said she believed the show's opponents may be overthinking things. "John Dillermand talks to children and shares their way of thinking - and kids do find genitals funny," she said. DR responded to the latest criticism by saying it could just as easily have made a program "about a woman with no control over her vagina" and that the most important thing was that children enjoyed John Dillermand.

 

Interestng facts about AZ

Ø Arizona grows enough cotton each year to make more than one pair of jeans for every person in the United States.

Ø Famous labor leader and activist Cesar Chavez was born in Yuma.

Ø In 1912, President William Howard Taft was ready to make Arizona a state on February 12, but it was Lincoln's birthday. The next day, the 13th, was considered bad luck so they waited until the following day. That' how Arizona became known as the Valentine State. 

Weekly Observations

National Mocktail Week	10-16
Cuckoo Dancing Week	11-17

 

Today’s Observations

Asarah B'Tevet: 12-14 [Jerusalem under siege]
Curried Chicken Day

Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day

Kiss A Ginger Day Link (Red Heads)
National Curried Chicken Day
National Glazed Doughnut Day

National Hot Tea Day
National Marzipan Day
National Pharmacist Day

National Poetry at Work Day 
National Shop For Travel Day  Link
Pharmacist Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Week is starting off a tad chilly. Winter at 7000’.

The fallout from the siege is getting much more frightening. One Rep leading the impeachment movement in the house got a very cryptic email about a coming civil war if Trump is impeached again. Hold on, it is going to be a bumpy ride.

Last night’s 60 Minutes did an excellent job of explaining the Georgia vote and how there was no fraud. Good work!

While I was at Red Lake, I had many duties, including being the school athletic director and representative at the league meetings. We were a 15-school league of Jr. High public and BIA schools in Western Navajo to make rules, set up all sport’s schedules, and deal with complaints. I mention this because the AIA [AZ Interscholastic Assoc.] is calling an emergency meeting for Wednesday. Turns out their decision to cancel all winter sports has not been well received. Some are saying this is more proof that they are a political organization, not a non-political group enhancing high school athletics. Sad!

Daily Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

First I am dried, then I am wet. The longer I swim, the more taste you get.

What am I?

Historical Events

1866 – The Royal Aeronautical Society is formed in London.

1926 – Original Sam ‘n’ Henry premiered on WGN (Chicago) radio and later renamed Amos ‘n’ Andy in 1928.

1959 – Motown Records was formed in Detroit.

1965 – Hullabaloo premiered on NBC.

1966 – ABC’s Batman television series premiered.

2001 – National Geographic Channel debuted American cable

2010 (Earthquake) Port-au-Prince, Haiti, killed over 200,000 people.

2017 US President Barack Obama in surprise presentation awards Vice President Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom

 

Birthdays Today

70 – Kirstie Alley, American actress

70 – Rush Limbaugh, American talk show host

69 – Ricky Van Shelton, American country singer-songwriter

@68 – [Woodward Mauric]Tex Ritter, American actor, singer (d. 1974; heart attack)

67 – Howard Stern, shock jock

@67 – Joe Frazier, American boxer (died in 2011; liver cancer)

57 – Jeff Bezos, American businessman, founded Amazon.com

58 – Rob Zombie (Robert Bartleh Cummings), American singer-songwriter

@40 – Jack London, American novelist,  journalist (d. 1916; dysentery/suicide?)

@39 – Swami Vivekananda, Indian philosopher (d. 1902; stroke)

@32 – Ira Hayes, Pima soldier [Iwo Jima] (d. 1955; exposure/alcohol poisoning)

28 – Zayn Malik, English singer-songwriter, One Direction

 

Puzzle Answer

Tea.