17 Apr

 

17 April 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 16 Day 107 \ Ave. Sky Cover 5% \ Visibility 27 miles Flagstaff Today 68° \27°  Wind 8mph \ Gusts 19mph 
Air Quality: Moderate \ High Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 264mi \ Nearest Lightning 884mi
Apr. Averages for Flagstaff: 60° \ 27° \3 Days of moisture
Sunshine

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

3/22-4/20  Consider Christianity Week
                          International Phace Syndrome Awareness Week
                          National Cleaning Week

15-22      International Dark Sky Week

15-21     Money Smart Week

              National Volunteer Week

16-22     Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week

              Chemists Celebrate Earth Week

              National Paperboard Packaging Week

              National Pet ID Week  

              Numismatic Week (National Coin Week)

16-23      Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week

17-21     Undergraduate Research Week

     National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week

Daily Observations

Herbalist Day
Bat Appreciation Day (Emerge from Hibernation)
Blah! Blah! Blah! Day
Boston Marathon (126th)
Cheese Ball Day
Ellis Island Family History Day
Ford Mustang Day
Herbalist Day
International Haiku Poetry Day Link
Malbec World Day  Link
National Crawfish Day Link
National Stress Awareness Day  
Nothing Like A Dame Day
World Hemophilia Day  Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Great spring day. Great day for a walk.

The sports world is entangled in a mess. Who should win out…Trans people vs Title IX? I guess I am really old school. Title IX changed sports for all schools and adulthood. It was designed to level the playing field and money spent on sports to be more equitable. Now some who were born male but identify as female are saying they should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. I hope the sports world finds a solution to this dilemma. I’m reminded that a loud voice does not always offer the best solution.

The Kennedy dynasty is in the news. Robert Jr., an all-anti-vaccine guy, is running for President. Many in the family say they support Biden. Time will tell.  

AZ legislature is insane. The AZ School for the Deaf and Blind has been around since 1912. It has always been on an every 10-year renewal by the legislature. The Freedom Caucus of AZ, the far-right members, wanted it to be renewed every 2 years. Pro-school advocates said that would severely hinder recruiting teachers who would not to work at a place that might be closed by the legislature so often. Finally, the sides agreed to a review every four years. This is not a pro-education stance. It is sad that so many anti-education legislators are voted into office in AZ.

Enjoy…

 

Geography…

Holland and the Netherlands Are Two Separate Things

Holland and the Netherlands tend to be used interchangeably when talking about the specific country in Western Europe — but they’re not at all the same. The Netherlands is a country with 12 provinces, including the regions of North Holland and South Holland.

Calling the Netherlands “Holland” would basically be like referring to the United States as Texas or New York. 

Moon Facts…

The Moon is rich in natural resources and could be mined for gold, platinum, rare earth metals and possibly even water. Particularly exciting for the future of space travel is the way in which the water can be split into its hydrogen and oxygen components and liquefied to make rocket fuel. This would allow longer voyages to use the Moon as a kind of refueling station.

Beauty in our 50 states…

1. California

Yes, it has issues. Lots of ‘em. But how many beautiful things do you know that don’t? For a moment, let’s drop the talk of climate change and traffic and talk for a minute about how California has EVERY SINGLE KIND OF BEAUTY you could possibly want. Start in the south with the expansive, natural beaches set against towering cliffs. Then move inland to the moon-like desertscapes in the Mojave. There’s the drive along the PCH and Big Sur, leading in the wine country of the Central Coast and up into San Francisco, a city that owes its aesthetic to cliffside views and curlicues of fog. Oh, and lest we forget Yosemite National Park. Or Redwood National Park. Or Death Valley National Park. Or any of the many underrated national parks. Or the wine country that stretches from Napa Valley in the north to Temecula in the south. Look, the Golden State isn’t for everybody—but as far as sheer diversity of natural beauty is concerned, nothing else comes close. You can see why, once upon a time, people crossed expansive grasslands and steep mountains and punishing deserts only to arrive in California and say to themselves, the trip was worth it after all.Want more Thrillist?

Historical Events

v 1521 – The trial of Martin Luther over his teachings began during the assembly of the Diet of Worms.
v 1961 – The Bay of Pigs Invasion
v 2014 – NASA’s Kepler space telescope confirms the discovery of the first Earth-size planet, Kepler-186f.

Birthdays Today

@78 – Thornton Wilder, American novelist, playwright (d. 1975; heart failure)
@77 – Rod Steiger, American character actor (d. 2002; pneumonia)
“The first thing that you should do when you win an Oscar is thank God. The second thing you should do is forget it. The third thing you should do is call your agent and tell him you need a job.”– Rod Steiger
@76 – Don Kirshner, American songwriter, producer (d. 2011; heart failure)
@75 – J.P. Morgan, American banker and financier, founded J.P. Morgan & Co. (d. 1913)
“A man always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason and the real reason.”– J.P. Morgan
72 – Olivia Hussey, Argentinian-English actress
@68 – Harry Reasoner, American TV Journalist (d. 1991; blood clot)
@63 – William Holden (William Franklin Beedle Jr.), American actor (d. 1981; fall)
@61 – Roddy Piper (Roderick George Toombs), Canadian wrestler, actor (d. 2015; hypertension)
“I’m so quick, I could spit in the wind, duck, and let it hit the old lady behind me.”– Roddy Piper
51 – Jennifer Garner, American actress
49 – Victoria Beckham, English singer and fashion designer
“I was never a natural. I got there in the end because I did believe that if you work hard enough, then you can achieve a lot.”– Victoria Beckham

 
 

16 Apr

16 April 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 16 Day 106 \ Ave. Sky Cover 5% \ Visibility 22 miles Flagstaff Today 60° \24°  Wind 6mph \ Gusts 12mph 
Air Quality: Moderate \ High Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 268mi \ Nearest Lightning 868mi
Apr. Averages for Flagstaff: 60° \ 27° \3 Days of moisture
Sunshine

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

3/19-4/16   National Cherry Blossom Festival 

3/22-4/20  Consider Christianity Week
                         International Phace Syndrome Awareness Week
                          National Cleaning Week

        8-16         National Robotics Week

        9-15         Animal Control Officer Appreciation Week 

               National Dog Bite Prevention Week  

               National Occupational Health Nursing Week  

               National Public Safety Telecommunicators (911 Operators)

               Pan American Week

               National Student Employment Week 

13-16      Satchmo Days

15-22      International Dark Sky Week

15-16      Just Pray No! Worldwide Weekend of Prayer, Fasting  

15-21      Money Smart Week

              National Volunteer Week

16-22      Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week

              Chemists Celebrate Earth Week

              National Paperboard Packaging Week

              National Pet ID Week  

              Numismatic Week (National Coin Week)

16-23      Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week

Daily Observations

Day of the Mushroom
Eggs Benedict Day
Save the Elephant Day
Stress Awareness Day
Wear Pajamas to Work Day
Emancipation Day (DC holiday that affects Tax Day) Link
Foursquare Day  Link
National Bean Counter Day  Link
National Health Care Decisions Day Link
National Orchid Day Link
Pascha
Save The Elephant Day
World Voice Day  Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A great beginning to the weekend…warm, sunny, breeze…not wind.

I took a nice long walk through my neighborhood this morning.

We can not control Mother Nature. The Nevado del Ruiz volcano on one of Columbia’s highest peaks is showing signs it is ready to erupt. It sits in a densely populated farming area and is infamous for claiming the lives of tens of thousands of people in a massive 1985 eruption. Watch this one.

Enjoy… 

Geography…

The United Kingdom and Great Britain Are Not One and the Same

Using Great Britain and the United Kingdom interchangeably is extremely commonplace outside of Europe, but it’s not entirely accurate to do so.

In fact, Great Britain simply refers to England, Scotland, Wales and their surrounding islands, while the United Kingdom encompasses those three that make up Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 

Moon Facts…

The Moon appears red during a lunar eclipse

During a lunar eclipse, the full Moon passes through the shadow of Earth. The shadow blocks the sunlight that normally reflects on the Moon, but the light of the Sun that bends through Earth’s atmosphere still reflects off the Moon, giving it a reddish-brown appearance. The ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus first predicted lunar eclipses more than 2,000 years ago, and the word “eclipse” comes from the Greek “ekleipsis,” meaning to disappear, cover up or abandon.

Beauty in our 50 states…

2. Hawaii

Pound-for-pound, acre-for-acre, this archipelago is the most spectacularly diverse and diversely spectacular place you can get to without a passport—and maybe even with one. The Hawaiian islands—seven larger islands, plus 130 smaller, uninhabited islets—hold such an array of landscapes because of their vast age gaps: for example, forest, canyon Kauai is 6 million years older than the broad, dark, raw Big Island, which is still growing, fed by the glowing volcanic vent that birthed the lot. Between them: Oahu, with heart-stopping beaches and jungles and cliffs under constant assault by rainbows; Maui, a sheaf of vacation postcards that unionized and formed an island; tourist-light Molokai, where some of the world's steepest cliffs plunge into deep blue oceans; and Lanai, which looks like the love child of Ireland and a Caribbean isle. You don't think it can be true until you get there, but Hawaii is one of the few destinations that, if anything, manages to exceed its perfect-10 reputation.

Historical Events

v 1862 – Emancipation Day – Abraham Lincoln freed 3,1000 slaves in Washington DC.
v 1908 – Natural Bridges National Monument was established in Utah.
v 1946 – The US Army liberated Nazi Sonderlager (high security) prisoner-of-war camp Colditz, aka Oflag IV-C.
v 1947 – Bernard Baruch first used the term “Cold War” to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union.
v 1961 – Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared that he is a Marxist–Leninist and that Cuba is going to adopt Communism.

Birthdays Today

@95 – Pope BenedictXVI (d. 2022)
@89 – Barry Nelson, American character actor (d. 2007)
@88 – Charlie Chaplin, English actor, director, producer, screenwriter, composer (d. 1977)
“The best thing in life is to go ahead with all your plans and your dreams, to embrace life and to live every day with passion, to lose and still keep the faith and to win while being grateful. All of this because the world belongs to those who dare to go after what they want. And because life is really too short to be insignificant.”– Charlie Chaplin
88 – Bobby Vinton, American singer
@83 – Spike Milligan, Irish actor, comedian, writer (d. 2002)
“We haven’t got a plan so nothing can go wrong!”– Spike Milligan
@82 – Peter Ustinov, English actor (d. 2004)
76 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, American basketball player
“One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team.’– Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
@73 – Herbie Mann, American composer (d. 2003; prostate cancr)
71 – Bill Belichick, American football player
@70 – Henry Mancini, American composer, conductor (d. 1994; pancreatic cancer)
69 – Ellen Barkin, American actress
@63 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (d. 2011; liver failure)
@59 – Dusty Springfield, English singer (d. 1999; breast cancr)
58 – Jon Cryer, American actor
“Actors always have things that they’re not thrilled about on a show and have a hobby of bellyaching about those things.”– Jon Cryer
58 – Martin Lawrence, American actor
50 – Akon (Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam ), Senegalese-American singer and rapper
“Two Things that Define Success In Life – The way you manage when you have nothing and the way you behave when you have everything.”– Akon
49 – Lukas Haas, American character actor, musician
39 – Claire Foy, English actress
30 – Chance the Rapper, American rapper
“Sometimes the truth don’t rhyme.”– Chance the Rapper
27 – Anya Taylor-Joy, Argentine-British actress
@23 – Selena Quintanilla, singer(d. 1995; murdered)

 

  

15Apr

 

15April 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 15 Day 105 \ Ave. Sky Cover 40% \ Visibility 19 miles Flagstaff Today 49° \25°  Wind 8mph \ Gusts 16mph 
Air Quality: Moderate \ Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 264mi \ Nearest Lightning 196mi
Apr. Averages for Flagstaff: 60° \ 27° \3 Days of moisture
Sunshine and clouds

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

3/19-4/16   National Cherry Blossom Festival 

3/22-4/20  Consider Christianity Week
                         International Phace Syndrome Awareness Week
                          National Cleaning Week

        8-16          National Robotics Week

        9-15          Animal Control Officer Appreciation Week 

                 National Dog Bite Prevention Week  

                 National Occupational Health Nursing Week  

                 National Public Safety Telecommunicators (911 Operators)

                 Pan American Week

                 National Student Employment Week 

11-13       National Catholic Educational Association Week

13-15       American Council on Education

13-16       Satchmo Days

14-15       Global Youth Service Days

15-22       International Dark Sky Week

15-16       Just Pray No! Worldwide Weekend of Prayer and Fasting  

15-21      Money Smart Week

              National Volunteer Week

Daily Observations

Auctioneers Day
Glazed Spiral Ham Day
Husband Appreciation Day
International Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day
Jackie Robinson Day Link
Laundry Day
McDonald's Day
National ASL Day (American Sign Language)  Link
One Boston Day Link
Purple Up! Day Link
Record Store Day 
Rubber Eraser Day  Link
Slow Art Day Link  
Take a Wild Guess Day
That Sucks Day
Titanic Remembrance Day
World Art Day (DaVinci's Birthday)  Link
World Circus Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A good spring day, cooler than yesterday.

Tax Day is usually the 15^th but has been changed due to the weekend.  Hope you are ready. A former colleague and now friend comes from a wealthy family in Oregon. Their LLC sold a property this year. The sale was divided among the children. Due to the sale, she owed the government $40,000 in taxes. The LLC also sent each child the funds to pay the taxes. Cool.

I’m lazy today so not much is going on. Tomorrow I’m going to clean off the deck so I can enjoy some time sitting out there as the weather warms up.

Enjoy…

 

Geography…

Kansas City Is Also in Missouri

While it may seem illogical to those who live outside of Kansas or Missouri, the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area spans both states, which means there are actually two completely separate Kansas City’s, run by two completely separate city governments.

In fact, most Kansas City claims-to-fame wind up on the Missouri side. The Kansas City Chiefs, for example, actually hail from Missouri, not Kansas. 

Moon Facts…

There is a documentary about the last person on the Moon

Most people know Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon, but few know the name of the last man to have taken these rare and special steps. As part of the Apollo 17 mission, astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed on the Moon’s surface on December 11, 1972. They both walked on its surface, but because Cernan was the last to board the spacecraft after Schmitt, he is officially credited as the last man on the Moon. There is a 2014 documentary about his life titled The Last Man on the Moon. Cernan died in 2017 at the age of 82.

Beauty in our 50 states…

3. Alaska

No state will leave you in complete awe of nature like Alaska. Whether it’s Kenai Fjords and the glaciers of the inside passage, Denali’s vast expanse of snow-capped peaks, or the sprawling tundra that makes up the interior, the state boasts the kind of rugged wilderness that just doesn’t exist in the rest of America. (For proof, look no further than its eight massive national parks, including Gates of the Arctic, the largest of all 63.) Part of the fun is that much of Alaska isn’t accessible by road, so the only way to get around is via scenic boat trips, helicopter tours, or Northern Lights train rides—all of which come with ample opportunities to spot whales, bears, sea lions, and other animals you typically never see outside of zoos. And although the land masses here are the biggest scenic draw, Alaska has some pretty respectable beach towns to boot.

Historical Events

1947 –
Jackie Robinson, became the first African-American player in Major League Baseball when he played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1989 –
96 fans were killed in The Hillsborough Tragedy in Sheffield, England with poor crowd control planning at a soccer match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
2013 –
The Boston marathon Bombing killed three people and injured 260 runners and supporters.

Birthdays Today

@85 – Charles Willson Peale, American painter, soldier (d. 1827)
“The Learner must be led always from familiar objects toward the unfamiliar, guided along, as it were, a chain of flowers into the mysteries of life.”– Charles Willson Peale
@85 – Roy Clarke, American musician, television personality (d. 2018)
@82 – Kim Il-sung, North Korean general, 1st Supreme Leader of North Korea (d. 1994)
84 – Claudia Cardinale, Italian actress
76 – Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, American screenwriter, producer
@67 – Leonardo da Vinci, artist (d. 1827)
@64 – Hans Conried, American voice actor (d. 1982; heart attack)
64 – Emma Thompson, English actress
“Any problem, big or small, within a family, always seems to start with bad communication. Someone isn’t listening.”– Emma Thompson
@62 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (d. 1995; cancer)
58 – Linda Perry, American singer-songwriter
57 – Samantha Fox, English model, singer-songwriter
@43 – Bessie Smith, African-American singer and actress (d. 1937; car crash)
“I don’t want no drummer. I set the tempo.”– Bessie Smith
41 – Seth Rogen, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
“You want to create an environment where we’re fostering ideas, not rejecting them.”– Seth Rogen
33 – Emma Watson, English actress
“There’s nothing wrong with being afraid. It’s not the absence of fear, it’s overcoming it. Sometimes you’ve got to blast through and have faith.”– Emma Watson