6-24-11

Ø  TODAY’s “Geez”:

·        1314 - Battle of Bannockburn; Scotland regains independence from England

·        1374 - A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion.

·        1880 - First performance of O Canada (French version, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français.

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

Another very warm day and the breeze kept it tolerable today. Of course that breeze also dried out the forest even more. Now there are no campfires or open flame even in established campgrounds. One can only hope that everyone will follow that law. Of course, it had to happen, but John McCain rephrased his fire comment. He now says that illegals start fires, not that they started any of the big fires we have in AZ. He also stated that since the Coronado National Forest was closed, anyone inside the forest would be there illegally, therefore making them ‘illegal’. Here in AZ the word ‘illegals’ seldom if ever is talking about people who have broken a law, other than the immigration law. Too bad he just couldn’t say he was wrong.

I got an email today that the boat company hadn’t received my paperwork for my river trip. No Big Deal. I pulled it out, found their address, and drove over there with. I actually hadn’t filled them out, thinking I could just take them to the trip meeting the night before. They have a release form that basically says that you are traveling down a very unpredictable river with lots of white water and that you will not hold them responsible if you are injured or if you die. Of course it takes a whole page to say that with terms like hypothermia, hyponatremia (too much water in your system), and dehydration and casually mention that two or more of these can happen at the same time. Oh well. So this company has customers from all over the world. Their address is a PO Box; their phone number is an 800 number. I had no idea where they actually were physically located. Turns out I have been driving by their office since they opened. They are about 8 blocks from where I live…on highway 89. I should have just walked over there.  Anyway, we are all set for the trip.

I ran some errands, did some laundry, and had a good day. Because we had lunch yesterday, it really felt like Friday until about 11am. I have another lunch with a friend tomorrow, so Saturday will probably feel like Friday too. It will be nice to have lunch with an old-er colleague.

Ø  Trivia Quiz…(answers at the end of post)

1.      In 1998 Celine Dion and R Kelly sang I'm Your what?

2.      In which decade did Boris Yeltsin come to power?

3.      Woody Allen was born in which decade of the 20th century?

4.      Which series with Ellen DeGeneres as originally called These Friends of Mine?

5.      Which Spanish Salvador was a surrealist artist?

6.      Which country does golfer Ben Crenshaw come from?

7.      Who had a 70’s No 1 hit with Stayin' Alive?

8.      What type of curtain divided eastern and western Europe during the cold war?

9.      Bandleader Edward Ellington was known by what nickname?

10.   Which state is called the Garden state?

11.   What did Cecil B de Mille make?

12.   Which star of Shakespeare in Love guest-edited the magazine Marie Claire?

13.   What was added to Stevie Wonder's name when he was a youngster?

Ø  Zoom-ed in Picture…Can you Identify what this is? (Answer at end of post)

Ø  Hmmmmm…

·        Date on which the Oakland CA Police stopped responding to burglaries not in progress due to budget cuts: 8-21-10

Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

·        Levi Strauss arrived in California during the Gold Rush trying to sell canvas tents to miners. However, he soon learned that what the prospectors needed most was pants, and so he turned his tent business into a pants business; eventually using imported denim in place of canvas.

·        In 2005, an orignal pair of Levi's--aged more than 115 years--were sold to a collector for $60,000.

Ø  Yeah, It Really Happened…

NEW YORK - New York police said a woman was arrested after stealing a license plate off a patrol car and shoving it down her pants. Police said Beryl Duncan, 53, took the plate from the marked 2009 Chevrolet Impala while it was parked near Prospect Park on a call about a disturbance about 1 a.m. Monday, the New York Post reported Tuesday. A witness described seeing Duncan shove the plate down her pants and police said she denied stealing the plate when confronted by an officer. Police said the woman told the officer the plate had fallen off the vehicle and she was holding it until she could return it to an officer. Duncan was arrested and charged with criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny.

Ø  Guffaw…or at least smile…

When Mozart passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple  days later, the town drunk was walking through the cemetery and heard  some strange noises coming from the area where Mozart was buried.

 Terrified, the drunk ran and got the priest to come and listen to it.

 The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave. Frightened, the priest ran and got the town magistrate.

 When the magistrate arrived, he bent his ear to the grave,  listened for a moment, and said, "Ah, yes, that's Mozart's Ninth Symphony, being played backwards."

 He listened a while longer, and said, "There's the Eighth Symphony,  And it's backwards, too. Most puzzling."

 So the magistrate kept listening; "There's the Seventh... the  Sixth...the Fifth..." Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate; he stood up and announced to the crowd that had gathered in the  cemetery.

"My fellow citizens, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Mozart decomposing."

Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

Roy Rogers "HOPPY, GENE, AND ME"

Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

19-25

·        Meet A Mate Week

·        Carpenter Ant Awareness Week

23-26

·        Watermelon Seed Spitting Week

Ø  TODAY IS

·        Celebration of the Senses

·        International Fairy Day

·        Museum Comes To Life Day

·        Take Your Dog To Work Day

·        Ugliest Dog Day

·        China: Macau Day (Oldest European—Portuguese—settlement in the Orient taken over by Dutch)

Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

1901 - 1st exhibition by Pablo Picasso, 19, opens in Paris

1894 - Decision to hold modern Olympics every 4 years

1916 - Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract.

1949 - "Hopalong Cassidy" becomes 1st network western (NBC)

1957 - "I Love Lucy," last airs on CBS-TV

1963 - 1st demonstration of home video recorder, at BBC Studios

…  IN ATHLETICS

1974 - Steve Busby retires 1st 9 White Sox to set AL record with 33 consecutive batters retired

…  IN BUSINESS

1930 - 1st radar detection of planes, Anacostia DC

… IN EDUCATION

1841 - Fordham University (then St John's College), opens in the Bronx

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1610 - Membertou (MIcmac) becomes the 1st Indian Catholic.

1832 - Reverend Samuel Worcester has been arrested, and convicted of living, and working, among the CHEROKEEs with have a state permit, or having sworn an oath of allegiance to the state of Georgia. The Supreme Court rules that the state of Georgia has unfairly tried to exercise control over the Cherokees contrary to federal law, and treaties. The court will strike down most of the anti-Indian laws passed by Georgia, including those seizing their lands, and nullifying tribal laws. Before the trail, President Andrew Jackson officially stated that he has no intention of supporting the Cherokees over the state of Georgia. Speaking to the court's decision today, Jackson would be quoted as saying, "John Marshall has rendered his decision; now let him enforce it." Jackson would ignore the Supreme Court ruling, and continue in his efforts to move the Cherokees out of the south, and into the Indian Territory.

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1497 - John Cabot claims eastern Canada for England (believes he found Asia in Nova Scotia)

1497 - Cornish traitors Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London.

1662 - Dutch invasion of Macau repulsed (Macau Day)

1692 - Kingston Jamaica founded

1961 - Iraq demands dominion over Kuwait

… IN RELIGION

▬

…  IN SCIENCE

1778 - David Rittenhouse observes a total solar eclipse in Philadelphia

…  IN US POLITICS

1664 - The colony of New Jersey is founded.

1861 - Tennessee becomes 11th (& last) state to secede from US

1968 - Deadline for redeeming silver certificate dollars for silver bullion

1970 - Senate votes overwhelmingly to repeal Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

1982 - Equal Rights Amendment goes down to defeat

… ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS

Jeff Beck, Surrey England, singer/guitarist (Jeff Beck Group ) turns 67

…ATHLETES

Billy Casper, golfer, 3-time PGA Player of Year ('66, '68, '70) turns 80

1895 - Jack Dempsey, "Manassa Mauler", heavyweight boxing champion (1919-26)

J.J. Redick, American basketball player turns 27

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

Jack Carter, comedian/actor (Amazing Dobermans, Octagon) turns 88

Mick Fleetwood, London, rock drummer (Fleetwood Mac-Go Your Own Way ) turns 69

Al Molinaro, actor (Murray-Odd Couple, Al-Happy Days) turns 92

Joe Penny, actor will be 55

Peter Weller, actor will be 64

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

1797 - John Hughes, archbishop, founded Fordham University in the Bronx

1912 - Norman Cousins, editor (Saturday Review)

…POLITICIANS

1899 - Chief Dan George [Geswanouth Slahoot], Chief of Tsleil-Waututh Nation , Coast Salish band, British Columbia, Canada actor (Harry & Tonto, Little Big Man. Smith!) *his name was changed when he went to boarding school at age 5.

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

1909 - William G Penney, British physicist (1st British Atom Bomb)

Ø  Today’s Obits:

2007 - Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler suicide  at 40

1908 - Grover Cleveland, 22nd & 24th Pres (1885-89, 93-97), dies of heart attack at 71

1987 - Jackie Gleason, comedian (Honeymooners), dies of colon cancer at 71

1984 - William Keighley, directot (Man who came to Dinner), dies of a stroke at 94

2006 - Patsy Ramsey, mother of JonBenét Ramsey dies of cancer at 50

2005 - Paul Winchell, American voice actor and ventriloquist dies at 83

Ø  ANSWERS:

Trivia Quiz

1.      In 1998 Celine Dion and R Kelly sang I'm Your what?

Angel

2.      In which decade did Boris Yeltsin come to power?

1990s

3.      Woody Allen was born in which decade of the 20th century?

30s

4.      Which series with Ellen DeGeneres as originally called These Friends of Mine?

Ellen

5.      Which Spanish Salvador was a surrealist artist?

Dali

6.      Which country does golfer Ben Crenshaw come from?

USA

7.      Who had a 70sNo 1 hit with Stayin' Alive?

The Bee Gees

8.      What type of curtain divided eastern and western Europe during the cold war?

                             Iron

9.      Bandleader Edward Ellington was known by what nickname?

Duke

10.   Which state is called the Garden state?

New Jersey

11.   What did Cecil B de Mille make?

Movies

12.   Which star of Shakespeare in Love guest-edited the magazine Marie Claire?

Gwyneth Paltrow

13.   What was added to Stevie Wonder's name when he was a youngster?

Little

Close Up Picture

Ø  …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

6-23-11

Ø  TODAY’s “Geez”:

930 - World's oldest parliament, the Iceland Parliament, established

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

I am sure glad the days are getting shorter, at least for today. It was very warm today.

A few years ago the sweat lodge in Sedona with 3 people dying, the National News was had lots of coverage. The jury came back today after less than two days of deliberation in the 4 month trial. Guilty of 3 counts of manslaughter. Not even a mention on the evening news. Probably because Pres. Obama’s speech on Afghanistan was basically all that was talked about. I’m sure this is far from being over, but Ray was not found guilty of 2^nd degree murder which was the other choice. This does open the way for civil suits by the families. A story with lots more to come.

Obama gave a speech on Afghanistan. When he took office, there were 35,000 troops. He raised that number to 100,000. His plan gets us to down to 66,000 by 2014. Kids who were born when we entered Afghanistan are ready to enter 6^th grade. Some of those kids have only seen their soldier parents a couple of weeks at a time every year as they are redeployed and redeployed, and redeployed. As we all know, this includes moms as well as dads. I am one of those wishing that the ‘drawdown’ would go a whole lot faster, along with 69% of Americans. We got bin Laden, we have learned that the people with the biggest guns are friends of the Afghanistan people. We still have 45,000 troops in Iraq. And nobody knows how many troops are involved in Libya. I admit, finding jobs for 150,000+ soldiers returning home would not be easy, but we wouldn’t be spending a billion a week if they came home.

I was surprised when I turned on FB tonight and found that our two term mayor will not be seeking re-election in 2012. She said she will continue to serve the people when called. Sounds like a lady with bigger plans than our little ol’ town has to offer. She has been a social network Mayor who has done some good things for our town. I disagree with some of her decisions regarding the Peaks, but overall I believe she has done a good job.

Change is always hard, and I seem to be in the middle of change. For two years our discussion group always met on Friday night. This year we are jumping between Friday and Saturday. I was OK with the change, but have to pay attention now. Our lunch group is busy this summer and is having a hard time finding Thursdays open. So this week we met today, next week it’s Friday. I always work to have my medical appointments as early as possible in the day, but my next appointment had to be at 2:30 in the afternoon. I’m trying really hard to deal with all these changes, but I wish things would get back to my ‘normal’.  Tough life.

Ø  Trivia Quiz…(answers at the end of post)

1.      In the X Files what is Mulder's first name?

2.      Which of the Beatles was the first to be widowed?

3.      Which Menacing US sitcom was screened as Just Dennis in the UK?

4.      In which country were the 1996 Olympic Games held?

5.      In Mask Jim Carrey starred as someone working where?

6.      Who had a 70s No 1 with If You Leave Me Now?

7.      What is the postal abbreviation for Indiana?

8.      Which Jeff starred in The Fabulous Baker Boys?

9.      IN 1998 actor James Brolin married which singer / actress?

10.   Bill Clinton was Governor of which state when he became President?

11.   Wichita international airport is in which US state?

12.   The Dalai Lama fled which country in the 50s?

Ø  Zoom-ed in Picture…Can you Identify what this is? (Answer at end of post)

Ø  Hmmmmm…

·        Percentage of US railway freight cars that are currently in storage: 23

Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

·        After his death, Alexander the Great's remains were preserved in a huge crock of honey. Among the ancient Egyptians, it was common practice to bury the dead in this manner.

·        Undertakers have reported that human bodies do not deteriorate as quickly as in previous times. They believe this is because the modern diet contains so many preservatives that these chemicals tend to prevent the body from decomposing too rapidly after death.

·        When a person dies, hearing is generally the last sense to go. The first sense is usually sight. Then follow taste, smell, and touch.

·        In ancient Egypt, when merchants left the country on business trips they carried small stone models of themselves. If they died while abroad, these figures were sent back to Egypt for proxy burial.

·        When a crusader died, his corpse was chopped up and the flesh boiled away. This was done so that the skeleton could be conveniently returned for a Christian burial.

·        Obsidian balls, or occasionally brass balls, were placed in the eye sockets of Egyptian mummies. The bandaging of a mummy often took from six to eight months and required a collection of special tools.

Ø  Yeah, It Really Happened…

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Police in Florida said a robber paid $1 for a pack of gum when store clerks explained they couldn't open the register without a purchase. Fort Lauderdale police said the unidentified robber pointed a gun at an employee of the 1939 NW Ninth Ave. Family Dollar store June 1 and ordered a second clerk to open the register, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Monday.

However, the clerks explained they could not open the register unless a purchase was made, and the robber took $1 from his pocket and paid for a pack of gum, police said. Police said the man fled with the money from the register, including his $1. The incident was recorded by security cameras. Investigators said the same man entered the neighboring Caribbean Mizik at 11:50 a.m. the following day and took money from the register.

Ø  Guffaw…or at least smile…

QUESTION: Why did the chicken cross the road?

 Answers:

 Pat Buchanan: To steal a job from a decent, hard-working American.

 Machiavelli: The point is that the chicken crossed the road. Who cares why? The ends of crossing the road justify whatever motive there was.

 Thomas de Torquemada: Give me ten minutes with the chicken and I'll find out.

 Timothy Leary: Because that's the only kind of trip the Establishment would let it take.

 The Bible: And God came down from the heavens, and He said unto the chicken, "Thou shalt cross the road." And the Chicken crossed the road, and there was much rejoicing.

 Fox Mulder: It was a government conspiracy.

Freud: The fact that you thought that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.

 Darwin: Chickens, over great periods of time, have been naturally selected in such a way that they are now genetically predisposed to cross roads

Richard M. Nixon: The chicken did not cross the road. I repeat, the chicken did not cross the road.

Oliver Stone: The question is not "Why did the chicken cross the road?" but is rather "Who was crossing the road at the same time whom we overlooked in our haste to observe the chicken crossing?"

Jerry Seinfeld: Why does anyone cross a road? I mean, why doesn't anyone ever think to ask, "What the heck was this chicken doing walking around all over the place anyway?"

 Martin Luther King, Jr.: I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

 Dirk Gently (Holistic Detective): I'm not exactly sure why, but right now I've got a horse in my bathroom.

 Bill Gates: I have just released the new Chicken 2000, which will both cross roads AND balance your checkbook, though when it divides 3 by 2 it gets 1.4999999999.

 M.C.Escher: That depends on which plane of reality the chicken was on at the time.

 George Orwell: Because the government had fooled him into thinking that he was crossing the road of his own free will, when he was really only serving their interests.

Colonel Sanders: I missed one?

Plato: For the greater good.

Aristotle: To actualize its potential.

Karl Marx: It was a historical inevitability.

B.F. Skinner: Because the external influences, which had pervaded its sensorium from birth, had caused it to develop in such a fashion that it would tend to cross roads, even while believing these actions to be of its own freewill.

Jean-Paul Sartre: In order to act in good faith and be true to itself, the chicken found it necessary to cross the road.

Albert Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

The Sphinx: You tell me.

Buddha: If you ask this question, you deny your own chicken nature.

Emily Dickenson: Because it could not stop for death.

 Ralph Waldo Emerson: It didn't cross the road; it transcended it.

Ernest Hemingway: To die. In the rain.

 Saddam Hussein: This was an unprovoked act of rebellion and we were quite justified in dropping 50 tons of nerve gas on it.

 Joseph Stalin: I don't care. Catch it. I need its eggs to make my omelet.

Dr. Seuss: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes the chicken crossed the road, but why he crossed, I've not been told!

 O.J.: It didn't. I was playing golf with it at the time.

Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

The Red Skelton Show"

 

Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

19-25

·        Meet A Mate Week

·        Carpenter Ant Awareness Week

23-26

·        Watermelon Seed Spitting Week

Ø  TODAY IS

·        National Pink Day: wear, eat, drink only pink

·        Let It Go Day

·        Public Service Day

·        Estonia: Victory Day

Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

1955 - Walt Disney's "Lady & the Tramp" released

1970 - "Red Skelton Show," last airs on CBS-TV, moved to NBC-TV

1970 - Rocker Chubby Checker arrested for marijuana possession

2004 - Bob Dylan accepts honorary doctor of music degree from the University of St Andrews, Scotland's oldest university

…  IN ATHLETICS

1775 - 1st regatta held on Thames, England

1894 - The International Olympic Committee is founded at the Sorbonne

1967 - Jim Ryun sets mile record (3:51.1, Bakersfield CA)

1972 - Pres Nixon signs act barring sex discrimination in college sports

…  IN BUSINESS

1810 - John Jacob Astor organizes Pacific Fur Co (Astoria, Oregon)

1938 - Civil Aeronautics Authority (US) established

1938 - Marineland opens in Florida-1st aquarium

… IN EDUCATION

▬

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1683 - William Penn and Delaware Chief Tamenend will sign a peace treaty in Shackamoxon, Pennsylvania. Tamenend was also called Tammany. He is renowned for his honor. The Tammany societies were named so in his honor.

1704: James Moore, former Governor of South Carolina, is leading a force of 50 British, and 1,000 CREEKs against Spanish settlements of Mission of San Pedro y San Pable at Patale, in north-western Florida. They will take many Indians as slaves and kill Father Manuel de Mendoza.

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1993 - UN authorizes worldwide oil embargo against Haiti

1994 - South Africa reclaims its seat in UN

… IN RELIGION

▬

…  IN SCIENCE

1925 - Landslides create 3-mile long "Slide Lake" (Gros Ventre Wyoming)

1949 - 1st 12 women graduate from Harvard Medical School

…  IN US POLITICS

1860 - Congress establishes Government Printing Office

1888 - Frederick Douglass is 1st African-American nominated for president

1986 - Tip O'Neill refuses to let Reagan address House

… ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS

▬

…ATHLETES

Tony Hill, American football player turns 55

1940 - Wilma Rudolph, runner (Olympic-3 gold-1960)

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

Selma Blair, actor turns 39

1929 - June Carter Cash, country singer (Johnny Cash Show)

1933 - Bert Convy, game show host (Win, Lose or Draw)

Mark DeCarlo actor turns 49

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

▬

…POLITICIANS

47 BC - Pharaoh Ptolemy XV of Egypt 

1456 - Margaret of Denmark, wife of James III of Scotland

Clarence Thomas, 108th US Supreme Court Justice (1991- ) turns 63

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

1894 - Alfred Kinsey, entomologist/sexologist (Kinsey Report)

Ø  Today’s Obits:

2009 - Ed McMahon, American television personality dies at 86

1998 - Maureen O'Sullivan, Irish actress dies at 87

1995 - Jonas Salk, biologist (Polio vaccine), dies of heart failure at 80

2006 - Aaron Spelling, American television producer dies at 83

Ø  ANSWERS:

Trivia Quiz

1.      In the X Files what is Mulder's first name?

Fox

2.      Which of the Beatles was the first to be widowed?

Paul McCartney

3.      Which Menacing US sitcom was screened as Just Dennis in the UK?

Dennis The Menace

4.      In which country were the 1996 Olympic Games held?

United States--Atlanta

5.      In Mask Jim Carrey starred as someone working where?

A bank

6.      Who had a 70s No 1 with If You Leave Me Now ?

Chicago

7.      What is the postal abbreviation for Indiana?

IN

8.      Which Jeff starred in The Fabulous Baker Boys?

Bridges

9.      IN 1998 actor James Brolin married which singer / actress?

Barbra Streisand

10.   Bill Clinton was Governor of which state when he became President?

Arkansas

11.   Wichita international airport is in which US state?

Kansas

12.   The Dalai Lama fled which country in the 50s?

Tibet

Close Up Picture

Ø  …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW