2-18-11 Friday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1787 Austrian emperor Jozef II bans children under 8 from labor

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

Mary and I had lunch at the southside Greek restaurant. Parking has always been a problem, but there is a dirt lot that has a few spots marked with a Reserved sign. The rest of the open field is just that, an open field. We parked there, as usual. When we came out, there was a flyer on our windshields. Expecting a ‘lose weight now’ or something similar we were both surprised to find that it said TOW THIS VEHICLE, with our license numbers, time and date on it. Upon leaving the lot, there is a small sign that says private parking. There are at least four businesses in the same building, including the restaurant. I’m sure it is some kind of feud going on, but one can’t shop or eat if one can’t park.

I have been trying to follow the events in Bahrain, and those events are not nearly as peaceful as Egypt. With Egypt, I could recognize many of the places; I knew people still living there; and I felt somehow connected. With Bahrain, I don’t have any of those connections, but the events there do show how this movement is moving across the area. From what I can tell, Bahrain has been seen as a ‘meeting place’ in that area for making oil deals, bank deals, and other business deals. No one has seen it as a hot bed of Sunni / Shiite protests or even Sunni / Shiite tension. The big concern for all Americans is the Strait where oil moves toward the US. The Bahrain monarchy has been our ‘friend’ and our government has paid little attention to how the people are treated, how the economy works, or wheat Draconian methods are used inside the country. Our concern seems to have been that the oil moves through the Strait. Our decades of short sighted views are starting to catch up with us.

All weather signs for a foot of snow over the next few days. Flag is very dry and looks like things will be changing. I have to fill up with gas tomorrow morning and then I’m set, if it gets really bad. I would have gotten gas today, but by the time I realized I needed gas, I was way past Sam’s and didn’t want to turn around. Sam’s gas is about 10 cents cheaper than anywhere else in Flag. Since most of the stations are at $3.20, it is worth going to Sam’s. Mary is heading for Phoenix, so she is watchin the sky, Martha is headed for Sedona and to Winslow, so she is watchin’ the sky. Sure hope they both have safe travels.

I got an email for World Market today. I like shopping there and signed up for their emails. The last email coupon was for 25% off my entire purchase. This one was a $10 Happy Birthday coupon. This is really good advertising.

What comes to mind when you think of Wisconsin? For me, first is cold, then cheese, then that cheese commercial with the cows moving to California, then the accent, and finally a couple of Indian tribes—Wyandot and Winnebago as I know a few people from each tribe. What has never come to mind is protest. However today the Democrats in the legislature left Wisconsin so they wouldn’t be forced to go to a vote on the Republican governor’s bill to basically shut down all state employee union’s bargaining power. The governor seems to believe that fire fighters, teachers, police, and other state workers are paid too much, do to little work, and need to take a 10% pay cut. He took office in January on the Republican sweep and sure sounds like a Tea Party guy. Schools in the Madison area had to be closed as too many teachers were at the capital with protest signs. It was in the 50’s today and only down to 30° last night, so my first impression of Wisconsin isn’t accurate. I guess the rest of my impressions are probably wrong too. This is the first governor to really attack budget, although his figures don’t seem to match the WI OMB figures. I have to wonder what other countries think when they see these large protests.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Bait a mouse or rat trap with Jif Peanut Butter. Mice actually prefer peanut butter over cheese.

Used cooking water from boiling vegetables or seafood ? Take the pot with the water in it directly outside to water your flowers or lawn instead of pouring it down the drain.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Super Bowl

The official cost of tickets for the Super Bowl game cost $200 to watch it outside on huge video screens up to $1,200 for club seats inside Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. You could buy a ticket for just $6 for the very first Super Bowl back in 1967.

Each team in the game receives 17.5 percent of the money, the host team gets five percent, the other teams in the league split up 34.8 percent and the league keeps 25.2 percent of it.

Between 2001 and 2010, the Super Bowl has sold a total of seven hours of television advertising time. This represents 850 adverts that cost a total of $1.62 billion.

PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. Playing card, Raymond Shaw trance and the Manchurian Candidate what do these things have in common?

2. Which county has the largest army in the world?

3. What type of acid is used in car batteries?

4. What new domestic device was launched by Hoover in 1963?

5. What animal can sleep for 3 years but only mates once?

6. What weapon was invented by Ernest Swinton, in 1916?

7. What is the fastest swimming ocean fish, at over 60 mph?

8. Tracey and Hepburn's first film in 1942 was what?

9. Which children's character was created by Mary Tourtel?

10. In which war did the charge of the Light Brigade occur?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

— The good news about a giant fiberglass cactus reported stolen in New Mexico is that it wasn't the target of thieves.

The bad news is that the $50,000 cactus is in a landfill and won't be returning to the park where it once stood.

Albuquerque city officials reported the statue stolen this week. But two city employees quickly came forward, saying they removed the bright-green cactus from the park and mistakenly had it sent to the dump.

The workers were sent to the park to fix things after the statue was reported vandalized. But then things went awry.

City spokesman Chris Ramirez said Wednesday that the employees didn't realize the cactus was part of a public art project.

High school students spent a summer building the art piece shaped like a prickly pear cactus. They were part of a nonprofit group that provides art education for at-risk kids.

“After talking extensively with the employees involved is that they just didn't know and that it was an honest mistake,” Ramirez said.

“The solid waste truck took it took it to the landfill, where's it's since been compacted and buried,” Ramirez said, according to KOAT.com.

“It’s incredibly tragic and inexcusable that city employees made that decision by themselves,” said Nan Elsasser, who runs Working Classroom, the nonprofit organization whose students created the sculpture for the city with $50,000 in state funds, KOAT.com reported.

A LITTLE LAUGH…

My two daughters were discussing the less than desirable physical attributes they had inherited from their father.

The older one said: "I hate my freckles from Dad."

Her unsympathetic younger sister replied: "At least you got his freckles. I got his eyebrow."

Top 10 In The World; Countries with the most billionaires

CLOSEUP PICTURE…

Can you identify this close up picture?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’…

Beautiful Photos of Sahara Desert

♫ 60’s Rock ♫

Click on Song Title to see and hear

♪… I'm A Believer The Monkees

♪… Dancing In The Street Martha & The Vandellas

♪… The Wanderer Dion

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DAYBOOK INFORMATION

¤…THIS WEEK…¤

13-19 ► International Flirting Week ♥ National Secondhand Wardrobe Week ♥ PTA Take Your Family To School Week

14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nest box Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

¤…TODAY IS…¤

National Battery Day

Perigean Spring Tides

Pluto Day (Discovered today through Flagstaff telescope)

Great Backyard Bird Count

Snow Moon

Gambia: Independence Day (1965 from UK)

Iceland: National Bun Day

Iran: Mohammed's Death

Israel: Mother's Day

Nepál: Constitutional Day (1951)

Today’s Births...

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

Helen Gurley Brown, 89, author (Sex and the Single Girl), magazine editor (Cosmopolitan)

Toni Morrison, 80, Nobel Prize–winning novelist (Beloved, Jazz, Tar Baby, Sula)

1890 Boris L Pasternak Russian poet/writer (Dr Zhivago)

○ ATHLETES

1853 August Belmont Jr breeder (Man 'O War)/founder (New York Jockey Club)

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1795 George Peabody merchant/philanthropist

○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)

1920 Bill Cullen TV host: I’ve Got a Secret, The Price is Right

1907 Billy De Wolfe (William Andrew Jones) actor: The Perils of Pauline, Lullaby of Broadway

Matt Dillon, 47, actor (Crash, There’s Something About Mary, Drugstore Cowboy)

George Kennedy, 84, actor (Oscar for Cool Hand Luke; “The Blue Knight”)

Jillian Michaels, 37, personal trainer, television personality (“The Biggest Loser”)

Juice Newton, 59, singer, born Judy Cohen

Yoko Ono, 78, artist, musician

1919 Jack Palance (Vladimir Palahnuik) Academy Award-winning actor: City Slickers [1991]

Molly Ringwald, 43, actress (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink)

Cybill Shepherd, 61, actress (The Last Picture Show, “Moonlighting,” “Cybill”)

John Travolta, 56, actor (Pulp Fiction, Urban Cowboy, Saturday Night Fever, “Welcome Back, Kotter”)

Vanna White, 54, television personality (“Wheel of Fortune”)

○ POLITICIANS

1516 Mary I Tudor [Bloody Mary] 1st reigning queen of Great Britain

1892 Wendell Wilkie Presidential candidate (R-1940)/author (One World)

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1677 Jacques Cassini French astronomer (rings of Saturn)

1836 Ramakrishna (Bengali: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস Ramkṛiṣṇo Pôromôhongśo), Hindu saint (preached unity of all religions)

Today’s Obits…

1217 Alexander Neckum de Sancto Albano English encyclopedist, @ 59

1564 Michelangelo Buonarroti Italian sculptor/painter/architect/poet (David), @ 88

1998 Harry Christopher Carabina, (Harry Caray) sportscaster (Chicago Cubs), brain damage from fall @ 83

1933 James Corbett (Gentleman Jim), heavyweight box champion (1892-97), @ 66

2001 [Ralph] Dale Earnhardt NASCAR driver/"The Intimidator", crash during Daytona 500 @ 49

1546 Martin Luther biblical scholar/religious reformer, stroke after years of poor health @ 62

1998 Robert Merrill songwriter (Funny Girl), commits suicide @ 76

1967 Robert J Oppenheimer creator of atomic bomb, throat cancer @ 62

Today’s Events…

○ ARTS

1678 John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" is published

1885 Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" published

1953 Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz signed a contract worth $8,000,000 [2010USD-$64.5million]to continue the I Love Lucy TV show through 1955.

○ ATHLETICS

1839 Detroit Boat Club forms (still exists today)

1932 Sonja Henie wins her 6th straight World Women's figure skating title

1960 8th Winter Olympics games open in Squaw Valley CA

1968 10th Winter Olympics games close at Grenoble, France

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1804 1st US land-grant college, Ohio University, Athens OH, chartered

○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1833 The Ottawa sign a treaty (7 stat. 420) at Maumee.

1867 The Sac and Fox sign a treaty (15 stat.495). They sell much of what remains of their reservation.

1876 Twenty-Fifth Infantry soldiers fight some Indians in the Carrizo Mountains in Texas. According to army documents, no casualties are recorded.

○ POLITICS (International)

1857 Insurrection of Chinese in Sarawak, Borneo

1921 British troops occupy Dublin

1927 US & Canada begin diplomatic relations

○ POLITICS (US)

1841 1st continuous filibuster in US Senate began, lasting until March 11

1861 Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery AL

1908 1st US postage stamps in coils issued

1970 Chicago 7 defendants found innocent of inciting to riot

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1688 Quakers conduct 1st formal protest of slavery in Germantown PA

1901 H Cecil Booth patented a dust removing suction cleaner

1930 US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto in Flagstaff, AZ

1979 Snow falls in the Sahara Desert

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ANSWERS

Quiz ANSWERS…

1. Playing card, Raymond Shaw trance and the Manchurian Candidate what do these things have in common? The Queen of Diamonds

2. Which county has the largest army in the world? China

3. What type of acid is used in car batteries? Sulphuric

4. What new domestic device was launched by Hoover in 1963? Steam Iron

5. What animal can sleep for 3 years but only mates once? Snails

6. What weapon was invented by Ernest Swinton, in 1916? Tank

7. What is the fastest swimming ocean fish, at over 60 mph? Sailfish, Marlin

8. Tracey and Hepburn's first film in 1942 was what? Woman of the Year

9. Which children's character was created by Mary Tourtel? Rupert the Bear

10. In which war did the charge of the Light Brigade occur? Crimean

Close Up Picture…

Escalator

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »

2-17-11 Thursday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 2000 Windows 2000 Professional Edition was released cost over $1 billion to develop

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

My trip to Hadrian’s Wall is getting very confusing. We still don’t have any dates, other than May 2011. I talked to Bob and he is awaiting some information from a couple of places that offer either walking/bike tours or walking/bus tours of the area. According to him, the walking part is where it is most interesting, the bike or bus part where it isn’t so interesting. Hmmm. I told him I thought that it was time for some decisions in order to get all the tickets. If it happens, I’ll be excited, if not I won’t be devastated.

I think that the Thyroid meds are ‘kicking in’. It may be psychological, but when I got up today, I had more energy than I have had recently. I felt good all, ran errands, and climbed my stairs numerous times with laundry. I did take an afternoon nap but was back to my 20 minutes, rather than the hour I had been doing. When I got up, I was rested and ready to go again.

Well Watson cleaned up on Jeopardy today. It won $1million for charity. It was a scientific marvel, but will be glad to see three human contestants again.

Cheryl is heading for California on a quick trip to see her grandkids this weekend. I’m sure part of it is to take her new pick-um-truck out on the road. I don’t blame her. So Mary and I will be going out to lunch tomorrow at a Greek Restaurant. Hopefully we will only have the dusting of snow the weatherman predicts. The foot is due Friday/Saturday.

I am more than a little disappointed with my BCBS insurance. As the insurance company pays the bills for my two surgeries, I am now getting ‘adjusted’ bills that I do have to pay. When I had my gall bladder surgery a couple of years ago, I paid about $50 total. With these two surgeries I have already paid about $450 with more coming. I haven’t figured out why, and will wait until all the bills are paid before I call BCBS help line again. I have had my BCBS since 1971. In 1985 I got a new card—stating I had the insurance since 1974. I called and they said that the new date was because of changes in BCBS agreements with the government. OK, fine. I got a new card today, stating I had the insurance since 1986. Obviously, lots has changed with insurance over the years. Coverage has changed, new procedures have been developed, costs have certainly changed. On top of that I have ‘used’ my insurance more than I did in the past. What I have to watch for now, is, in a three years I turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare. I have been forced to pay into Medicare for many years. I can keep BCBS as a secondary. I wonder what it will cover then. When I picked up my thyroid meds there was another pharmacist at CVS. My Thai pharmacist finally had a day off. This guy said he had been a pharmacist for 26 years. He said when he started, the doctor wrote a script, the insurance kicked in, the pharmacist filled the script, and the insurance company and the patient both paid the pharmacy. He says that in today’s world, he spends about 60% of his time talking to insurance companies to figure out why the script isn’t covered, or the coverage is so small, if there is another similar script that they will cover. One insurance company wouldn’t cover a patient’s script and the patient was to be charged $250. After talking to the insurance company he found that ‘a computer error’ had rejected the script that should have been covered and the patient should be charged $25. I have to wonder how many Pharmacy schools have classes on dealing with insurance companies. I want a pharmacist who knows about medications, knows about interactions, about potential interactions with other meds. I didn’t realize that half or more of their time today is spent dealing with insurance companies to cover medications that heal the patient. This seems so wrong. I wonder if half their education is classes on dealing with insurance. On a side note, I got a final bill from the anesthesiologist for my thyroid surgery. I called the number on the bill because I needed a copy of her report that led to my ID necklace for ‘difficult intubation’. The lady I talked to in Phoenix only deals with bills. She said I needed to call the doctor. I expected that. She does not have the phone number of the doctor, nor does she have the address, nor does she have the name of the doctor’s practice. All she knew was that she was part of a ‘group’. I got on the web and found the office number in Flagstaff. I called. They don’t have the doctor’s report either. I have to call medical records at the hospital. She was able to transfer me, since the office in directly connected to the hospital somehow. The records lady said that I had to come into the hospital and go to medical records on the third floor using Elevator B. I was told to bring a picture ID and I would be given a form to request the records. Then they would mail me the records. It is not possible to pick them up the same day. I could have them mail me the form, I could send it back with a copy of my photo ID and they would mail the records back to me. Lots of people sure have jobs in the medical profession periphery that seem redundant. I can’t wait to see the form…and am wondering what I will actually write on the line that I expect will ask—Why do you need these records?

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Pour old baking soda from the refrigerator down your drain to freshen.

Dry out used tea leaves and sprinkle them into cat litter. The leaves will absorb odors, and the catechins in the tea will kill germs.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Ground Hogs

The name “woodchuck” comes from an Algonquian (possibly Narragansett) name for the animal, wuchak.

The average animal weighs between four to nine pounds but some (in places where there is alfalfa farming, for example) have been known to reach 30 pounds.

Groundhogs are champion diggers. On average, an animal will remove about 700 pounds of soil to make a burrow. The burrow is designed with several rooms and extends for 25 to 35 feet. One to three entrances are included.

PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. In which city is the world's largest carpet manufacturer?

2. If you suffer from epistaxis what is wrong?

3. What's the only written number, in English, where the letters are in alphabetical order?

4. Where does the American flag fly 24 / 7 and is never taken down?

5. Sanskrit is an old language word. What does the word mean?

6. Why was Fred Lorz disqualified from the 1904 Olympic marathon?

7. Where did Jim Morrison die?

8. By law in Boston, what is banned from being in the back seat of a car?

9. Who is the Patron Saint of Artists?

10. 53 is the international dialling code for what country?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… MORO, OR

— A sheriff's deputy didn't need a drug dog to point out a stash during a recent traffic stop. The driver's dog did it for him.

KGW-TV reports Sherman County sheriff's Sgt. John Terrel was pulling over a pickup truck Feb. 9 when he saw a sock fly out the window. It turned out to be stuffed with marijuana and hashish.

The driver told Terrel he was trying to hide the sock, but his pit bull mix grabbed it and wouldn't let go, enjoying a tug-of-war game.

The dog won the tussle and tossed the sock out the window, and the 32-year-old driver was indicted on drug possession charges.

Sheriff Brad Lohrey says he wished everyone traveled with their own personal drug dog.

A LITTLE LAUGH…

I took four tires to a friend’s garage sale and was asking $30 apiece. I needed to leave for a few minutes, so I asked him to watch them for me.

"Sure," he said, "but if someone offers less, how low are you willing to go?"

"Try for more, but I will accept $15," I said, and left.

When I returned, my tires were gone. "How much did you get for them?" I asked excitedly.

"Fifteen dollars each."

"Who bought them?"

“I did.”

Top 10 In The World…Largest Countries in the World by area

CLOSEUP PICTURE…

Can you identify this close up picture

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’…Chinese Lantern Festival

♫ 60’s Rock ♫

Click on Song Title to see and hear

♪… Time of the Season The Zombies

♪…Touch Me The Doors

♪… Under The Boardwalk The Drifters

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DAYBOOK INFORMATION

¤…THIS WEEK…¤

13-19 ► International Flirting Week ♥ National Secondhand Wardrobe Week ♥ PTA Take Your Family To School Week

14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nestbox Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

¤…TODAY IS…¤

Champion Crab Races Day

My Way Day

National PTA Founders Day (1887)

World Human Spirit Day

China: Lantern Festival (元宵节)--(Chap Goh Meh(Chinese: 十五暝; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: cha̍p-gō-mê; literally "the fifteen night") Festival in Malaysia and Singapore or Yuen Siu Festival in Hong Kong, or "Tết Thượng Nguyên" or "Tết Nguyên Tiêu"(Vietnamese: Tết Nguyên tiêu) in Vietnam; is a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the Chinese calendar, the last day of the lunisolar Chinese New Year celebration.) See video above

Kosovo: Independence Day, (2008)

Sri Lanka: Maha Shivaratree (Mahashivaratri marks the night when Lord Shiva performed the 'Tandava'. It is also believed that on this day Lord Shiva was married to Parvati Ma.)

Today’s Births...

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

1766 Thomas Malthus economist, demographer: The Malthusian Theory: population growth exceed production growth

1758 John Pinkerton Scottish historian

○ ATHLETES

1908 Walter L "Red" Barber sports announcer (Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees)

James Nathaniel (Jim) Brown, 75, Hall of Fame football player, activist, actor

Michael Jordan, 48, former basketball player, sports executive

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1867 William Cadbury English chocolate manufacturer (Cadbury)

1844 Aaron Montgomery Ward founded mail-order business (Montgomery Ward)

○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)

1934 Alan (Arthur) Bates actor: An Unmarried Woman, Women in Love, Zorba

Brenda Fricker, 66, actress (Oscar for My Left Foot; The Field), born Dublin, Ireland

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 30, actor (Inception, (500) Days of Summer, The Lookout, “3rd Rock from the Sun”)

Paris Hilton, 30, socialite, television personality

Hal Holbrook (Harold Rowe, Jr), 86, actor (Magnum Force, All the President’s Men)

Dame Edna Everidge (Barry Humphries), 77, actor, comedian,

Richard Karn, 52, actor (“Home Improvement”), game show host (“Family Feud”)

1914 Arthur Kennedy actor

1919 Jock Mahoney actor (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury)

1941 Gene Pitney singer: Town Without Pity, The Man Who Shot Liberty

Lou Diamond Phillips, 49, actor (La Bamba, Stand and Deliver)

Denise Richards, 40, actress (Wild Things, The World Is Not Enough)

○ POLITICIANS

1942 Huey P. Newton, American political activist

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1781 René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laënnec French inventor (stethoscope)

Today’s Obits…

1908 Geronimo (Goyaałé, "one who yawns") Chiricahua Apache chief, pneumonia @ 79

1989 Lefty Gomez Yankee pitching great, @ 80

1954 Evert Gorter Dutch pediatrician and children's artist (Kindergeneeskunde), @ 72

1793 Creek Chief Alexander McGillivray killed in battle @ 43

1673 Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] French playwright (Learned Lady), TB @51

1982 Lee [Israel] Strasberg father of method acting/actor (And Justice for All), heart attack @ 80

Today’s Events…

○ ARTS

1776 1st volume of Gibbon's "Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire" published

1933 Blondie Boopadoop, the title role and flapper in the comic strip, Blondie, married Dagwood Bumstead. The marriage took place three years after Chic Young’s popular strip first debuted

1955 KTVF TV channel 11 in Fairbanks AK (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting

1958 Comic strip "BC" 1st appears

1962 The Beach Boys started making waves with their first Southern California hit, Surfin’ the start of the Surf music style

○ ATHLETICS

1924 Johnny Weissmuller sets 100-yard freestyle record (52.4 seconds)

1953 Baseball star/pilot Ted Williams uninjured as plane shot down in Korea

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1817 1st US city lit by gas (Baltimore)

1876 Sardines 1st canned (Julius Wolff-Eastport ME)

1933 1st issue of "Newsweek" magazine published

1934 The first high school automobile driver’s education course was introduced in State College, PA

○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1690 While traveling through the area, French explorer Henri de Tonti visits the Natchitoches Confederation near what is now called Natchitoches, Louisiana.

○ POLITICS (International)

1854 British recognize independence of Orange Free State (South Africa)

1867 1st ship passes through Suez Canal

1947 Voice of America begins broadcasting to USSR

1969 Golda Meir sworn in as Israel's 1st female prime minister

○ POLITICS (US)

1621 Miles Standish appointed 1st commander of Plymouth colony

1870 Mississippi becomes 9th state re-admitted to US after Civil War

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1931 1st telecast of a sporting event in Japan (baseball)

1997 Carl Sagan Public Memorial at Pasadena CA

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ANSWERS

Quiz ANSWERS…

1. In which city is the world's largest carpet manufacturer? Kashmir

2. If you suffer from epistaxis what is wrong? Nose bleeds

3. What's the only written number, in English, where the letters are in alphabetical order? Forty

4. Where does the American flag fly 24 / 7 and is never taken down? Moon

5. Sanskrit is an old language word. What does the word mean? Put together or Perfected

6. Why was Fred Lorz disqualified from the 1904 Olympic marathon? Hitched a lift passing car

7. Where did Jim Morrison die? Bath - in Paris hotel

8. By law in Boston, what is banned from being in the back seat of a car? Gorillas

9. Who is the Patron Saint of Artists? St. Luke

10. 53 is the international dialing code for what country? Cuba

Close Up Picture…

Burnt Wood

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »

2-16-11 Wednesday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1932 1st patent issued for a tree, to James Markham for a peach tree

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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

I watched the second Jeopardy with the computer Watson. It took two days to play the first game because of all the ‘background’ interviews about Watson. This made both days a little boring but very educational. We have come so far since those first computers we sometimes forget what life was like before them. My first computer was a PC and I was fascinated that I could write a program of four or five lines and make the computer do something. Sometimes it was just to count and put the answers on the screen. Sometimes it was various colored lines that would be drawn on the screen in a random pattern. When computers were first introduced to the classroom setting those Apple IIe’s didn’t do a lot and teachers were more afraid of them than the students. It quickly became clear that lots of teacher training would be necessary. Looking back, our school used more computers in Title I classrooms and had the younger aides doing most of the computer time with the students. This may have been a mistake as teachers quickly learned that these boxes were not something they had to learn. Back to Watson—this computer is far from perfect. It seems to get many of the nuances of the questions, but misses some. Tomorrow we will get to see both rounds, more like the real game. Watson right now has a huge lead so many will see tomorrow if that lead remains. I sometimes think that many old-er Computer owners need to go back to those ‘write your own program’ days so it is easier to understand that a computer only does EXACTLY what you tell it to do. Certainly today’s programs do spell check, automatically set up certain things. However, there is always a human—somewhere—who told the computer or the program how to do that. It is certainly complicated. I got a call from my friend Bob and his Comcast email wouldn’t send me a file. A few years ago--an eon ago in tech time--I would have tried to give him some help. I don’t have that ability anymore. With today’s programming, I was no help. My only suggestion was to call tech help at Comcast, but knew that would be less than helpful. So many times, the tech help doesn’t listen to your problem. They assume that anyone calling was lucky to have the computer plugged in and even after you tell them that you did something, they say, do it again with me on the line. Very frustrating.

Our local weatherman says that our beautiful spring weather of the last week is leaving us for more winter weather, including some snow. Of course that means more friggin’ wind. We could be getting up to a foot of snow during the weekend. Hmmm. Well it is winter, it is Flagstaff, and we need the moisture. If anyone asks, I would prefer no 45mph winds, a couple of inches of snow every day for a week, rather than a foot of snow in one 10-12 hour drop. Weather comes and weather goes, so I’ll be sure I have plenty of food and wait it out. The good news is that temperatures are not expected to get that cold.

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Water plants with club soda. Boost the mineral content in the soil by giving your plants a big gulp of club soda every week or so.

Have more shoes than space in your closet? Make more room by laying a board across the tops of two short stacks of books. Put shoes on the shelf and on the floor underneath.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Cupid Part II

The oldest surviving love poem is written in a clay tablet from the times of the Sumerians, inventors of writing, around 3500 B.C. It was unromantically named Istanbul #2461 by the archeologists who unearthed it.

In England, the Romans, who had taken over the country, had introduced a pagan fertility festival held every February 14.

After the Romans left England, nearly a century later, the pagan ritual was abolished by Pope Gelsius who established St. Valentine's Day as a celebration of love in 496 A.D.

The first American publisher of valentines was printer and artist Esther Howland. During the 1870s, her elaborate lace cards were purchased by the wealthy, as they cost a minimum of 5 dollars - some sold for as much as 35 dollars. Mass production eventually brought prices down, and the affordable "penny valentine" became popular with the lower classes.

PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. What is the sacred animal of Thailand?

2. What sport was deemed to violate civil rights and was banned in New York?

3. Nephologists study what?

4. In 1984, British Airways' stewardess called police, to tell them she'd left what in cupboard?

5. What was the first team sport played in the modern Olympics?

6. What are the Aki, Daishimizu and the Seikan in Japan?

7. Jamie Farr played what role in the TV show M*A*S*H?

8. What do Millionaires, Metropolitans, Black Hawks and Silver Seven have in common?

9. De Witt Wallace founded what magazine?

10. Bristlemouths are the world's most common what?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… BBC News

"Tall, slim, facial symmetry," "good teeth," along with classic makeup and dress and graceful movement, might comprise the inventory list for any beauty contest winner, and they are also the criteria for victors in Niger's traditional "Gerewol" festival -- except that the contestants are all males and the judges all females. Cosmetics are especially crucial, with symbolic black, yellow and white patterns and stripes (with white being the color of "loss" and "death"). A special feature of the pageants, according to a January BBC television report, is that when the female judges each select their winners, they are allowed to marry them (or have flings), irrespective of any pre-existing marriage by either party.

A LITTLE LAUGH…

Although I knew our commanding officer hated doling out weekend passes, I thought I had a good reason.

"My wife is pregnant and I want to be with her," I told the C.O. Much to my surprise he said, "Permission granted."

Inspired by my success, a fellow soldier also requested a weekend pass. His wife wasn't pregnant, so when the C.O. asked why he should grant him permission, my friend responded, "My wife is getting pregnant this weekend and I want to be with her."

Top 10 In The World...World's Largest Lakes

CLOSEUP PICTURE…

Can you identify this close up picture

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’… 1950 Your Hit Parade TV SHOW

♫ 60’s Rock ♫

Click on Song Title to see and hear

♪… Runaround Sue Dion

♪… Gloria The Shadows Of Knight

♪… A Change Is Gonna Come Sam Cooke

«« « « » » » »

DAYBOOK INFORMATION

¤…THIS WEEK…¤

10-16 ► Celebration of Love Week ♥ Children of Alcoholics Week

13-19 ► International Flirting Week ♥ National Secondhand Wardrobe Week ♥ PTA Take Your Family To School Week

14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nestbox Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

¤…TODAY IS…¤

Do A Grouch A Favor Day

Kyoto Protocol Day

Lithuania: Independence Day (1918 from Russia and Germany)

North Korea: Kim Jong-il's Birthday

Today’s Births...

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

1838 Henry Adams US historian, writer (Education of Henry Adams)

1884 Robert Flaherty father of documentary film (Nanook of the North)

Richard Ford, 67, author (Independence Day, The Sportswriter)

○ ATHLETES

John Patrick McEnroe, Jr, 52, former tennis player, born in Wiesbaden, West Germany

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1740 Giambattista Bodoni Italian printer/typeface designer

○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)

1903 Edgar Bergen ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy)

1909 Hugh Beaumont actor (Ward Cleaver-Leave it to Beaver)

1935 Sonny Bono singer (Sonny & Cher, Mayor-Palm Springs CA)

LeVar Burton, 54, actor, host (“Roots,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Reading Rainbow”), born in Landsthul, Germany

1954 Margaux Hemingway actress

1912 Del Sharbutt TV announcer (Your Hit Parade) --see a show above

Ice T, 52, rap singer, actor (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” New Jack City), born Tracy Morrow

○ POLITICIANS

1620 Frederick William Great Elector, founder of Brandenburg-Prussia

1812 Henry Wilson 18th Vice-President (1873-75)

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1698 Pierre Bouguer French mathematician (heliometers-measures diameter of sun in seasons)

1834 Ernst Heinrich Haeckel biologist (Causes of Evolution)

1514 Rhäticus [Rheticus] Austrian astronomer/mathematician

1852 Charles Taze Russell founded Jehovah's Witnesses

Today’s Obits…

1892 Henry Walter Bates naturalist/explorer (South America), emphysema @ 67

1996 Susan Bosence textile designer, @ 82

1967 Lester Alvin Smiley Burnette cowboy (Charlie-Petticoat Junction), leukemia @ 55

0923 Abu Dja'far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari Islamic historian, @ 83

1996 MacLean Stevenson actor (MASH), heart attack @ 66

Today’s Events…

○ ARTS

1905 1st US Esperanto club organizes in Boston

1950 Longest-running prime-time game show, "What's My Line" begins on CBS

○ ATHLETICS

1972 Wilt Chamberlain hit 30,000 point mark during a game with Phoenix Suns

1997 At age 25, Jeff Gordon is youngest winner in Daytona 500 history

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1659 1st known check (£400) (on display at Westminster Abbey)

1741 Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine (2nd US Magazine) begins publishing

1838 Kentucky passes law permitting women to attend school under conditions

1857 Gallaudet College (National Deaf Mute college) forms (Washington DC)

1868 Benevolent & Protective Order of the Elks founded in New York

1883 "Ladies Home Journal" begins publication

1900 1st Chinese daily newspaper in US publishes 1st issue (Chung Sai Yat Po-San Francisco)

1968 Country's 1st 911 phone system went into service in Haleyville AL

○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1760 Native American hostages killed in Ft Prince George SC

1863 An Act (12 stat.l.652) states that all treaties between the United States and the "Sisseton, Wahpaton, Medawakanton, and Wahpakoota Bands of Sioux of Dakota are aborgated and annulled" as far as occupancy or obligations in Minnesota are concerned. This act took away their lands in Minnesota because of the "Santee Sioux uprising."

1911 President Taft issues several Executive Orders which allow the sale, use or manufacture of alcoholic beverages in former Indian Reservations which have been ceded to the United States.

○ POLITICS (International)

1956 Britain abolishes the death penalty

1959 Fidel Castro named himself Cuba's premier after overthrowing Batista

1989 Egypt, Iraq, Jordan & North Yemen form common market

○ POLITICS (US)

1878 Silver dollar became US legal tender

1938 US Federal Crop Insurance program authorized

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1917 1st synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid

1923 Howard Carter finds Pharoah Tutankhamen

1961 China uses it's 1st nuclear reactor

«« « « » » » »

ANSWERS

Quiz ANSWERS…

1. What is the sacred animal of Thailand? White Elephant

2. What sport was deemed to violate civil rights and was banned in New York? Dwarf throwing

3. Nephologists study what? Clouds - Meteorology

4. In 1984, British Airways' stewardess called police, to tell them she'd left what in cupboard? Husband in Bondage

5. What was the first team sport played in the modern Olympics? Water Polo

6. What are the Aki, Daishimizu and the Seikan in Japan? Tunnels

7. Jamie Farr played what role in the TV show M*A*S*H? Corporal Clinger

8. What do Millionaires, Metropolitans, Black Hawks and Silver Seven have in common?

Stanley Cup winners in ice hockey

9. De Witt Wallace founded what magazine? Readers Digest

10. Bristlemouths are the world's most common what? Fish

Close Up Picture…Utility Knife

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »

2-15-11 Tuesday

 TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1768 1st mustard manufactured in America advertised, Philadelphia

«« « « » » » »
MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

A very interesting day. I met with my financial advisor and moved some more money. While there I learned a couple of things. The New York Stock Exchange is a business. It oversees the buying and selling stocks. It was founded in 1792. In 2007 it joined Euronext out of Amsterdam. Now it is being ‘sold’ to the Germans. Those big money people sure seem to be selling a lot of American stuff to the global economy.

I would never be able to work in a critical care unit at a hospital. The sister of a good friend from Tuba is in the ccu in Phoenix. Her kids all graduated from high school and three of the four attended some college. She has had two surgeries in recent days. Her intestines were tangled up and the first surgery led to another problem I don’t understand. This morning a got a call that the end was near and the family was all coming to Phoenix for the decision. It is a Navajo family so that means lots of people. I have worried about her all day, since she is only about 66 years old. I just got a call that the daughter misunderstood the ccu nurse earlier today. She is in critical condition but the doctor’s are not ready to talk about any end of life decisions. That is a relief, at least for the a time. Such a difficult situation. The poor lady is in an induced coma, has lost a lot of weight. No one seems to know her recovery schedule but we now know that the doctors are still expecting some kind of recovery.

My ENT called and said that I will need to take some thyroid meds. I told him that was a relief as I seem to much more tired than before he chopped me up. He asked if I could still get out of bed in the morning. I told him it wasn’t that bad, but I was tired in the afternoon. He said it will take some time—a month or two—to find out how much medicine I need to take. I’ll take the med in the morning, an hour before eating anything, for a month, have a blood test, and decide if I need more, less, or the same amount. This is not the outcome I had hoped for, but will deal with it. My daily schedule will have to change as I usually get up, eat breakfast, and go about the day. Now I have to wait an hour. However, it will be nice not to be really tired in the afternoon.

Another friend is having vehicle/battery problems. I told her I am not the guy to help. I may help her by getting her from and back to her mechanic. She has another vehicle, so it is a major inconvenience but not impossible for her to get in and out of town. I will be interested to find out what caused her car alarm go keep going off last night, what made the battery completely dead this morning, and why the charger said the less than year old battery wouldn’t accept a charge. Whenever a vehicle stops running, we suddenly discover how dependent we are on our transportation.

Our governor announced today that she has an agreement with the Republican run legislature to lower corporate taxes. She says this will bring more business to AZ. Hmmm. Sounds to me that we will just have less money in the bank. Every state is in financial trouble and many are following the same path to entice business. If the NYSE is being sold to Germany, it looks to me that all business cares about is the bottom line. If AZ has the lowest taxes, that might bring in business, but as soon as we raise the taxes or another state makes their tax rate lower than ours, those businesses will leave in a heartbeat. Those who will suffer the most are the small businesses in AZ that are not getting the tax break and the property owners who will eventually have to help make up for lost revenue. And who will be in AZ for the long haul? The property owners and the small business owners.

«« « « » » » »

DID YOU KNOW THAT…

Hang a small hook near your kitchen sink and use it to safely stash your rings, watches or other jewelry you remove when washing, cleaning or cooking. You'll always know where they are after the task is finished.

When your hair is soaking wet, it doesn't soak up conditioner as well as it would if it were just damp. So if you have dry, brittle or even static-prone hair, blot it with a thick towel after you shampoo and before you condition.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Cupid

Cupid became associated with Valentine's Day because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards holding a bow and arrows because he is believed to use magical arrows to inspire feelings of love.

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

The oldest known Valentines were sent in 1415 A.D. by the Duke of Orleans to his French wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. It is still on display in a museum in England.

N E W  PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…]

1. Time Magazine named what as the Man of the Year in 1982?

2. What nationality was Mata Hari?

3. ET drank which brand of beer?

4. St. Brigit of Ireland could do what amazing trick for visitors?

5. What is the most common disease in the world?

6. Who wrote 'Gone with the Wind'?

7. 'Scrambled Eggs' was the working title of which Beatles' song?

8. What does a polytheistic person believe in?

9. Who piloted the first flight across the English channel?

10. Sandra Bullock, Kris Kristofferson and Bruce Willis all had what job before acting?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM… KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

— A woman in a jungle region of northern Malaysia rescued her husband from a tiger attack by clubbing the beast on its head with a large wooden soup ladle and chasing it away, police said Monday.

The tiger pounced on Tambun Gediu while he was hunting squirrels Saturday near his home in a jungle settlement of the Jahai tribe, a police official in Malaysia's Perak state said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

Tambun's 55-year-old wife, Han Besau, rushed out when she heard his screams and struck the tiger on its head with a kitchen ladle, causing it to flee immediately, the official said.

Tambun was receiving treatment at a hospital for lacerations on his face and legs.

"I was trailing a squirrel and crouched to shoot it with my blowpipe when I saw the tiger," the BBC quoted him as saying. "That's when I realized that I was being trailed." 'I had to wrestle with it'

Tambun said that he first tried to escape by climbing a tree, but the tiger dragged him down. "I was terrified and I used all my strength to punch the animal in the face, but it would not budge," the New Straits Times newspaper quoted him as saying. "I had to wrestle with it to keep its jaws away from me, and it would have clawed me to death if my wife had not arrived."

Shabrina Shariff, the state's wildlife department director, told The Star daily that wildlife rangers planned to track down the tiger and chase it deeper into the jungle, where there were no human inhabitants.

According to the BBC, there are about 200 tigers in Perak state.

Note: I was in that area during my visit, but we didn't see any tigers.

A LITTLE LAUGH…
Arriving home from work at my usual hour of 5 p.m., I discovered that it had not been one of my wife's better days. Nothing I said or did seemed to be right.

By 7 p.m. things had not changed, so before a fight started in earnest I suggested I go outside, pretend I had just gotten home, and start all over again. My wife agreed.

I went outside, came back in and, with a big smile, announced, "Honey, I'm home!"

"And just where have you been?" she replied sharply. "It's after seven o'clock!"

Top 10 In The World…Rivers

CLOSEUP PICTURE…

Can you identify this close up picture

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’…Burns and Allen How To Talk Jive

♫ 60’s Rock ♫

Click on Song Title to see and hear

♪… I Can See For Miles The Who

♪… 96 Tears ? & The Mysterians

♪… Crying Roy Orbison

«« « « » » » »

DAYBOOK INFORMATION

¤…THIS WEEK…¤

10-16 ► Celebration of Love Week ♥ Children of Alcoholics Week

12-15 ► Random Acts of Kindness Week

13-19 ► International Flirting Week ♥ National Secondhand Wardrobe Week ♥ PTA Take Your Family To School Week

14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nestbox Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

¤…TODAY IS…¤

Susan B. Anthony Day

Battleship Day, Remember the Maine (1898)

National Gum Drop Day

Mawlid Al Nabi (Islamic - The Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad)

Serbia: Remember the Maine Day National Day ()

US: Massachusetts: Spanish-American War Memorial Day (1898)

Today’s Births...

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS

Susan Brownmiller, 76, author, feminist (Against Our Will, Femininity)

○ ATHLETES

1929 Graham Hill auto racer: Indianapolis 500 winner [1966]

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

Adolfo, 78, fashion designer, born Adolfo F. Sardina at Havana, Cuba

Matt Groening, 57, cartoonist (“The Simpsons”)

1812 Charles Lewis Tiffany jeweler name synonymous with highest quality jewelry

1803 John Augustus Sutter Swiss/US colonist of California gold rush fame

○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)

Allan Arbus, 93, actor (Dr Sidney Freedman-MASH)

1882 John Barrymore [Blythe], Philadelphia PA, actor (Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, The Tempest, Beloved Rogue)

Claire Bloom, 80, actress (A Doll’s House, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold)

1964 Chris Farley actor (Saturday Night Live, Wayne's World, Coneheads)

1927 Harvey Korman actor (Carol Burnett Show, Blazing Saddles)

Melissa Manchester, 60, singer (“Don’t Cry Out Loud”)

1907 Cesar Romero actor (Joker-Batman, Ocean's 11, The Thin Man)

Jane Seymour, 60, actress (Emmy for “East of Eden”; “Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman”)

○ POLITICIANS

1894 Oswaldo Aranha Brazil, lawyer/statesman (1st President of UN)

1820 Susan Brownell Anthony Adams MA, women's suffragette

1845 Elihu Root US Secretary of State (1905-09)/Nobel Peace Prize (1912)

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1564 Galileo Galilei astronomer/physicist

1809 Cyrus Hall McCormick inventor (Mechanical reaper)

1874 Ernest H Shackleton at Kilkee Ireland, explorer (Endurance, Antarctica)

Today’s Obits…

1973 Wally Cox actor (Mr Peepers, Hollywood Squares), heart attack @ 48

1965 Nat King Cole, singer, lung cancer @ 45

1744 John Hadley inventor (sextant), @ 61

1996 Tommy Rettig actor (Lassie)/computer programmer (Clipper), heart attack @ 54

1996 McLean Stevenson actor (MASH, Hello Larry), bladder cancer @ 66

1984 Ethel Merman singer/actress (Kid Million), in her sleep @ 76

1905 Lewis Wallace US diplomat/writer (Ben Hur), @ 77

Today’s Events…

○ ARTS

0399 Philosopher Socrates sentenced to death

1932 George Burns and Gracie Allen debuted as regulars on The Guy Lombardo Show on CBS radio

1967 1st anti-bootleg recording laws enacted

○ ATHLETICS

1976 12th Winter Olympics games close at Innsbruck, Austria

1978 Boxer Leon Spinks defeated Muhammad Ali to win the universally recognized heavyweight boxing crown.

1980 Eric Heiden skates Olympics record 500 meter in 38.03 seconds

○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION

1842 1st adhesive postage stamps in US (private delivery company), New York NY

1903 1st Teddy Bear introduced in America, made by Morris & Rose Michtom

○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1831 The United States Senate passes a resolution asking President Jackson if he is going to live up to the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act passed on March 30, 1802. If he is not going to live up to this law, they want to know why. He responds a week later.

1870 The second intercontinental railroad starts . It also goes through Indian lands.

○ POLITICS (International)

1965 Canada displayed its new red and white Maple Leaf flag, which replaced the old Red Ensign standard.

1971 After 1200 years Britain abandons 12-shilling system for decimal

○ POLITICS (US)

1799 1st US printed ballots authorized, Pennsylvania

1933 President-elect Franklin Roosevelt survives assassination attempt

○ SCIENCE & RELIGION

1922 Marconi begins regular broadcasting transmissions from Essex

1967 Longest dream (REM sleep) on record, Bill Carskadon, Chicago (2:23)

«« « « » » » »

ANSWERS

Quiz ANSWERS…

1. Time Magazine named what as the Man of the Year in 1982? The computer

2. What nationality was Mata Hari? Dutch

3. ET drank which brand of beer? Coors

4. St. Brigit of Ireland could do what amazing trick for visitors? Bathwater into Beer

5. What is the most common disease in the world? Periodontal Disease

6. Who wrote 'Gone with the Wind'? Margaret Mitchell

7. 'Scrambled Eggs' was the working title of which Beatles' song? Yesterday

8. What does a polytheistic person believe in? many gods

9. Who piloted the first flight across the English channel? Louis Blériot

10. Sandra Bullock, Kris Kristofferson and Bruce Willis all had what job before acting? bartenders

Close Up Picture…

Milk can

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »

2-14-11 Monday

TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1924 IBM Corporation founded by Thomas Watson: don’t miss Jeopardy with the computer Watson 3 days, beginning today.

«« « « » » » »
MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
♥ H A P P Y V A L E N T I N E ‘ S D A Y ♥ to all. ♫ Happy 99th to ARIZONA ♫
I am doing nothing different with this blog, yet some days it loads, other days it doesn’t. I use a Word Template and add the pictures at the end in Blogger. I’ve been doing this for almost 2 years and suddenly, when I hit the publish button everything is gone, or almost everything is gone. I have switched browsers from IE to Chrome and the same thing happens. If this continues, I may try opening a new blog. I do have to do all the Bold and Italic stuff in Blogger, and hate doing all that several times to get it to publish. Oh well, no one to complain to, since the blog is free. There are lots of free blog sites on the web but not all allow pictures. Time will tell what I do.

This was a great spring day—as we hit 61° and I spent time on the deck. I haven’t figured out why I don’t have a lot of birds this winter. One guess is the snow from last winter scared them away. Whatever the reason, I still have plenty of food for them so they are welcome back anytime. I sure hope more deck-days continue…so much better than cold wind. Sitting out there started the juices flowing to plant, water, and enjoy some flora. The only hope I have is that the two squirrels who think they own the entire area behind the building is their home. They attempt to eat the bird seed and suet, but I have that pretty well solved.

I just caught a piece about Laughing Yoga. The link is below under Found on You Tube. It all started in Mumbai, India by one man and has quickly become a world- wide phenom. There are no centers in Flagstaff yet, but we sure could use some. One Indian in the piece suggested that this may be the cheapest healthcare program in the world.

The news keeps talking about the Obama budget that will make deep cuts. I doubt that. The Tea Party Reps have said they too have big cuts. Of course the cuts from both sides will be different and through our compromise system, most won’t happen. I’m sure big business will continue to make profits, not hire new employees, give their executives huge bonus payments and even better golden parachutes when they leave. The Tea Party has proposed cuts in abortion—which the Feds don’t pay for anyway and cuts in unemployment. Nothing about new jobs. Nothing about balancing the budget from the top money makers. What a mess. No one will be happy when the two budgets are introduced, few will be happy with the compromises, and until more people have jobs, more people have good health care at a reasonable price, and we stop buying our allies, things will just plug along with no one happy, some really pissed off, and a very few somewhat happy.
«« « « » » » »
DID YOU KNOW THAT…
>Steep 8 tea bags in a foot tub until water is dark and no longer hot, then soak feet for 20 minutes. Tea has anti-bacterial properties that kill odor-causing bacteria.
>Laundry hampers can get a sour or musty smell. Ensure yours stays fresh by poking several holes in a box of baking soda and placing it at the bottom of the hamper. It will eliminate moisture as it soaks up odors.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION… Fortune Cookies
>Some sources claim that David Jung, founder of Los Angeles' Hong Kong Noodle Company, created the fortune cookie in 1916, possibly to brighten up the survivors of World War I with the happy messages contained inside.
>Others say the fortune cookie was invented Japanese immigrant Makoto Hagiwara in 1914. Hagiwara was a gardener who designed the famous Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park.
>In 1993, San Francisco's Court of Historical Review held a mock "trial" to settle the matter of the fortune cookie's origins. The court backed Hagiwara's claim, ruling that the honor belonged to San Francisco.
>Fortune cookies became common in Chinese restaurants after World War II. Desserts were not traditionally part of Chinese cuisine, and the cookies thus offered Americans something familiar with an exotic flair.
>Early fortunes featured Biblical sayings, or aphorisms from Confucius, Aesop, or Ben Franklin.
>Fortune cookies were originally made by hand using chopsticks. In 1964, Edward Louie of San Francisco's Lotus Fortune Cookie Company, automated the process by creating a machine that folds the dough and slips in the fortune.
>Now, the world's largest fortune cookie manufacturer, Wonton Food Inc. of Long Island City, Queens ships out 60 million cookies a month.

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM…NEW YORK
- New York's Bronx Zoo said it is offering Valentine's gift-givers the opportunity to name Madagascar hissing cockroaches after their sweeties. The zoo said people can pay $10 to have their Valentine's name given to a roach in the Madagascar! Exhibit with an accompanying e-card informing the recipient of the naming gift, the New York Daily News reported Thursday. "Nothing says forever like a cockroach," zoo director Jim Breheny said.
"They are resourceful, resilient and have been around for hundreds of millions of years." The Bronx Zoo's Valentine's festivities also include an online "Courtship Quiz," available at www.bronxzoo.com, for humans to compare their courtship styles to those found in the animal kingdom.

A LITTLE LAUGH…
An old man made it shakily through the door to Joe Conforte's Mustang Ranch, outside Reno, Nevada. The receptionist stared at him.
"You gotta be in the wrong place," she exclaimed. "What are you looking for?"
"Ain't this the famous Mustang Ranch? Ain't this where you got forty-five girls ready-n-able?"
The receptionist looked perplexed. "Ready for what?"
"I want a girl," the old man rasped. "I wanna get some action."
"How old are you, Pop?" she asked.
"Ninety-two," he replied.
"Ninety-two? Pop, you've HAD it!"
"Oh," said the old man, a little disconcerted as his trembling fingers reached for his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

Top 10 In The World

CLOSEUP PICTURE…
Can you identify this close up picture?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’…  Laughter Yoga on Discovery Channel

♫ Rock Anthems ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear
♪… 1. We Will Rock You - Queen
♪… 2. My Generation - The Who
♪… 3. Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young
«« « « » » » »
DAYBOOK INFORMATION
¤…THIS WEEK…¤
7-14 ► Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week ♥ Publicity for Profit Week ♥ Risk Awareness Week ♥ Love Makes the World Go Round; But, Laughter Keeps Us From Getting Dizzy Week ♥ World Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Week
10-16 ► Celebration of Love Week ♥ Children of Alcoholics Week
12-15 ► Random Acts of Kindness Week
13-19 ► International Flirting Week ♥ National Secondhand Wardrobe Week ♥ PTA Take Your Family To School Week
14-21 ► Alzheimer’s and Dementia Awareness Week ♥ Love a Mench Week ♥ National Condom Week: ♥ National Nestbox Week ♥ NCCDP Alzheimer's & Dementia Staff Education Week ♥ International Friendship Week ♥ National Conference on Education

¤…TODAY IS…¤
Ferris Wheel Day
National Heart to Heart Day
Clean Out Your Computer Day
League of Women Voters Day
Library Lovers Day
National Condom Day
National Donor Day
Quirky Alone Day
Race Relations Day
Valentine’s Day
World Marriage Day
Denmark: Gaekkebrev/Fjörtende Februar-gift exchanges by school kids
Mexico: Day of National Mourning (Vincent Guerrero-1831)
US: Arizona: 1912 Admission Day: 48th state: Countdown to Centennial begins
US: Oregon: 1859 Admission Day: 33rd state

Today’s Births...

○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS
Carl Bernstein, 67, journalist, author (All the President’s Men with Bob Woodward)
1881 William John Gruffydd Welsh poet/scholar (Ynys yr Hud)
1856 Frank Harris English journalist/writer (My Life & Loves)
○ ATHLETES
Drew Bledsoe, 39, former football (Patriots, Bills, Cowboys)
1913 Woody (Wayne) Hayes College Football Hall of Famer: Ohio State head coach for 33 years
○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1913 Jimmy Hoffa Teamsters leader who disappeared in 1975
1864 Robert E Park US sociologist (human ecology, marginal man)
○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)
1894 Jack Benny [Benjamin Kubelski], actor, comedian "Oh! Rochester!"
Hugh Downs, 90, broadcaster (“Today,” “20/20”)
Florence Henderson, 77, singer, actress (“The Brady Bunch”)
1946 Gregory Hines dancer, actor: Renaissance Man, Tap, The Cotton Club
1929 Vic Morrow actor (Combat, Roots, Twilight Zone the Movie)
1905 Thelma Ritter actress (Miracle on 34th Street)
Teller, 63, magician (Penn and Teller), born Raymond Joseph Teller
○ POLITICIANS
Michael Bloomberg, 69, Mayor of New York City
○ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1760 Richard Allen 1st black ordained by Methodist-Episcopal church
1859 George Washington Gale Ferris engineer/inventor (Ferris Wheel)
1838 Margaret Knight inventor, "the female Thomas Edison"
1858 Joseph Thomson Scotish geologist (Thomson's gazelle)

Today’s Obits…
1780 William Blackstone English lawyer, gout @ 56
1571 Benvenuto Cellini Italian sculptor/metalsmith/author (Perseus), @ 70
1779 James Cook British explorer, murdered by natives in fracas with Hawaiians @ 50
1996 Eva Hart Titanic survivor@ 90
1988 Frederick Loewe US composer (My Fair Lady), @ 84

Today’s Events…
○ ARTS
1967 Aretha Franklin records "Respect"
○ ATHLETICS
1951 Sugar Ray Robinson defeats Jake LaMotta & takes middleweight title
1952 6th Winter Olympics games opens in Oslo, Norway
1980 13th Winter Olympics games open in Lake Placid NY
○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1794 1st US textile machinery patent granted, to James Davenport, Philadelphia PA
1803 Apple parer patented by Moses Coats, Downington PA
1889 1st trainload of fruit (oranges) leaves Los Angeles for the east
1919 United Parcel Service forms
1941 1,000,000th vehicle traverses the New York Midtown Tunnel
○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1776 The first Spanish arrive at what eventually becomes Needles, California.
1873 Congress creates the office of Indian Inspector. The initial three inspectors are appointed by the President for four year terms. They inspect the operations of Indian Officers in the field.
1969 The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe of the Flathead Reservation enact a resolution prohibiting the hunting or killing of Mountain Sheep.
○ POLITICS (International)
1778 "Stars & Stripes" arrives in foreign port for 1st time (France)
1946 Bank of England nationalized
1949 1st session of Knesset opens in Jerusalem
1956 Khrushchev denounces Stalin at USSR Communist Party Conference
○ POLITICS (US)
1848 James K Polk became 1st President photographed in office (Matthew Brady)
1899 US Congress begins using voting machines
1903 US Dept of Commerce & Labor established
1929 St Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago IL, 7 gangsters killed
1962 1st lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts White House tour on TV
○ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1349 2,000 Jews burned at the stake in Strasbourg France
1872 1st state bird refuge authorized (Lake Merritt CA)
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ANSWERS
Close Up Picture…
Hair brush

« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »