7-12-11 Last Blog before River Trip

Ø  TODAY’s “Geez”:

·        1630 - New Amsterdam's governor buys Gull Island from Indians for cargo, renames it Oyster Island, it is later known as Ellis Island

·        1817 - 1st flower show held (Dannybrook, County Cork, Ireland)

·        1843 - Mormon leader Joseph Smith say God OKs polygamy

·        1882 - 1st ocean pier in US completed, Washington, DC

·       1917 - The Bisbee Deportation occurs as vigilantes kidnap and deport nearly 1,300 striking miners and others from Bisbee, Arizona

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

This blog is going on vacation. It will return in about 2 weeks, after my trip down the Colorado. Bob is arriving sometime tomorrow afternoon, and I decided that I would not be a good host if I spent time doing this blog. Most of my visitors do not appreciate being left sitting in the living room alone, or coming to my office and watching my type. LOL.

·         

I figure I am ready to go, got everything packed into a small duffle bag today. I will have to repack when we get our dry bags Wednesday. I don’t want to take too much or too little. The info they sent could fit about any trip length down the river. Thirteen days on the river, not knowing if it is going to be hot or raining makes it hard. They say it will be hot, but it hasn’t been that hot yet, what with the daily rains. The hardest part of camping out anywhere is having dry clothes when it is raining. A couple of camping trips, we would run into town—maybe 20+ miles away and dry things at the local Laundromat. Seems the canyon doesn’t have any operating ones so it’s ‘air-dry’ only. I have noticed they never talk about that in their literature.

·         

About 3:30 this afternoon the cable went out. It was really cloudy and I could barely see Mount Elden, where all the towers are. I’m sure there was a storm up there. After about an hour and a half I tried to call the cable company. Only got a busy signal. After three hours I tried again and got through. The wait time was ‘greater than 20 minutes’. Thank goodness for speaker phones. Anyway the guy finally came on, after about 30 minutes and said they within the last 15 minutes they had gone from 100% outage to 60% outage. He expected it all to be up in a couple of hours. He said they had lost all connectivity to Flagstaff—internet and cable, so the only way they knew what was happening was ‘the old fashioned way’ of land lines. This only happens in the Monsoon time of the year and is usually only off about 20minutes. I’ll be anxious to find out where the lightning hit since it didn’t affect the FM radio station that has a tower close to the cable company.

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

1.      In Pokemon, what does Charmander become in the third stage?

2.      Who wrote the show Company?

3.      Which show on skates was the first to play in Las Vegas Hilton, in '93?

4.      What was the first Web browser called?

5.      Sugar was based on which Marilyn Monroe movie?

6.      In Pokemon what does Pikachu develop into?

7.      Which Russian city was famous for its State Circus?

8.      The company whose full name was Radio Keith Orpheum produced what?

9.      Pokemon is an abbreviation of what?

10.   In which Austrian city, home of Mozart, has an annual music festival been held since 1920?

11.   Who is the Princess in the Super Mario Gang?

12.   Where in Japan is the Nintendo company based?

13.   Alvin Ailey founded a theater for which branch of hearts?

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

Ø  Hmmmmm…

·        Percentage of Americans who say they would like cosmetic surgery if they could afford it: 69

·        Percentage increase in the number of US ‘buttock-augmentation surgeries’ performed since 2008: 37

Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

·        In 2005, a 57 year-old woman gave birth to her own granddaughter, a baby conceived with an egg donated by her 27 year-old daughter.

·        In 2006, a 41 year-old British woman married what she called "the love of my life": a male dolphin named Cindy.

Ø  Yeah, It Really Happened…

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — An estranged wife attacked her husband with a "basket of pocketknives" inside the home they formerly shared on Roundhouse Road on Sunday, police say.

Kathleen Patricia Shearn, 52, is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault and criminal mischief. Police said she was not allowed at the home as a bail condition on charges she assaulted her husband with a fork in May.

Police said that Eric Shearn said his wife and he were arguing in the house when she began destroying things inside the home. Shearn told officers his wife no longer lives in the house, according to court records. Shearn told officers his wife hit him in the head with a basket of pocketknives. According to court records, she then got in her car and drove it onto the lawn, tearing up the turf, and then left.

That's when Shearn reportedly called police. But his wife returned before troopers got there, broke an end table on his head and left again, according to court records. Police said they found the home in disarray and Shearn had cuts and a lump on his head.

After an arraignment before District Judge Kay Dubree, Shearn was sent to county prison and released Tuesday.

She was charged with assault in May after throwing a fork at her husband that cut open his face. Dubree married the couple in 1999, according to court records.

Ø  Guffaw…or at least smile…

The economy is so bad that:The Mafia is laying off judges!

-----

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F Kennedy International airport as he attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator.  At a morning press conference, Attorney General Eric Holder said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement.  He did not identify the man, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.  'Al-Gebra is a problem for us', the Attorney General said.  'They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values .'  They use secret code names like 'X' and 'Y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.  As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'There are 3 sides to every triangle'.  When asked to comment on the arrest, a legislator who asked to remain anonymous, said, 'If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.' 

Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

Milton Berle 1951

(Cliburn)Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1

BEAH RICHARDS: A BLACK WOMAN SPEAKS

Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

·        1-4  International Chicken Wing Week

·        1-7  National Unassisted Homebirth Week

·        3-9  Be Nice To New Jersey Week

·        4-10 Freedom Week

  Nude Recreation Weekend

·        10-16    Sports Cliché Week

National Farriers Week

·        12-18  National Parenting Gifted Children Week

      National Ventriloquism Week

Ø  TODAY IS

·        National Pecan Pie Day

·        Kiribati: Independence Day (an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean: 1979 from UK)

Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

1962 - Rolling Stones 1st performance (Marquee Club, London)

1970 - Blues-Rock singer Janis Joplin debuts in Kentucky

…  IN ATHLETICS

1901 - Cy Young wins his 300th game

1928 - 1st televised tennis match

…  IN BUSINESS

1785 - 1st manned flight by gas balloon in Netherlands

1859 - Paper bag manufacturing machine patents by William Goodale, MA

… IN EDUCATION

▬

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1775: A part of a legislative bill allocates $500 to Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, to be dedicated to the education of Indian youth.

1788: A small Ojibwa war party attacks a small army unit thirty miles north of Fort Harmar in Ohio. Two soldiers are killed and three are wounded. This attack hampers plans for a peace conference in Ohio.

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1679 - Britain's King Charles II ratified Habeas Corpus Act

1920 - Panama Canal opens

1990 - Boris Yeltsin quits Soviet Communist Party

… IN RELIGION

1290 - Jews are expelled from England by order of King Edward I

1580 - Ostrog Bible, the first printed Bible in a Slavic language, is published

…  IN SCIENCE

1878 - Fever epidemic in New Orleans begin, it will kill 4,500

…  IN US POLITICS

1909 - 16th Amendment approved (power to tax incomes)

1933 - Congress passes 1st minimum wage law (33 cents per hour)

1951 - Mob tries to keep black family from moving into all-white Cicero Ill

1957 - 1st President to fly in helicopter-Dwight Eisenhower

1972 - Democrats nominated George McGovern for president in Miami

1984 - Geraldine Ferraro, NY becomes 1st woman major-party VP candidate

… ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS

1895 - Oscar Hammerstein II, lyricist who worked with Richard Rodgers

1884 - Louis B. Mayer, in Ukraine, American film producer and creator of the star system (MGM)

1817 - Henry David Thoreau, naturalist/pacifist (Walden Pond)

Harvey Lavan Van Cliburn Jr, pianist (Tchaikovsky 1958) turns 77

1730 - Josiah Wedgwood, English pottery designer/manufacturer (Wedgwood)

…ATHLETES

Travis Best, NBA guard (Indiana Pacers) turns 39

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

1908 - Milton Berle, comedian (Uncle Miltie, Mr Television)

Bill Cosby comedian turns 74

1909 - Curly Joe DeRita, American actor and comedian (Three Stooges) 

Topher Grace, actor (That 70’s Show) turns 33

1952 - Phil Kramer, Youngtown Oh, rocker (Iron Butterfly:  In A Gadda Da Vida )

Cheryl Ladd actress (Charlie’s Angels) turns 60

1920 - Beah Richards, American actress

Jay Thomas, actor, comedian turns 63

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

1854 - George Eastman, inventor (Kodak camera)

Richard Simmons, exercise guru (Deal-a-Meal) turns 63

…POLITICIANS

100 BC - Julius Caesar, Roman military and political leader 

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

1864 - George Washington Carver, botanist (studied the peanut) 

1895 - R Buckminster Fuller, architect/inventor (geodesic dome)

Ø  Today’s Obits:

1973 - Lon Chaney Jr, actor (Wolfman), dies after long illness at 66

1712 - Richard Cromwell, English Lord Protector (1658-59), dies at 85

1804 - Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, killed by Vice President Aaron Burr in pistol duel near Weehawken at 49

1949 - Douglas Hyde, first President of Ireland dies at 89

2005 - John King, Baron King of Wartnaby, Chief executive of British Airways since its privatization dies at 88

1976 - Ted Mack (William Edward Maguiness), TV host (Original Amateur Hour), dies at 72

2004 - Betty Oliphant, co-founder of National Ballet of Canada dies at 86

2008 - Tony Snow, former speechwriter for Presidents George H.W. Bush and press secretary for George W. Bush dies of colon cancer at 53

Ø  ANSWERS:

Ø  Trivia Quiz

1.      In Pokemon, what does Charmander become in the third stage?

a.      Charizard

2.      Who wrote the show Company?

a.      Stephen Sondheim

3.      Which show on skates was the first to play in Las Vegas Hilton, in '93?

a.      Starlight Express

4.      What was the first Web browser called?

a.      Mosaic

5.      Sugar was based on which Marilyn Monroe movie?

a.      Some Like it Hot

6.      In Pokemon what does Pikachu develop into?

a.      Raichu

7.      Which Russian city was famous for its State Circus?

a.      Moscow

8.      The company whose full name was Radio Keith Orpheum produced what?

a.      Films - as RKO

9.      Pokemon is an abbreviation of what?

a.      Pocket Monster

10.   In which Austrian city, home of Mozart, has an annual music festival been held since 1920?

a.      Salzburg

11.   Who is the Princess in the Super Mario Gang?

a.      Daisy

12.   Where in Japan is the Nintendo company based?

a.      Kyoto

13.   Alvin Ailey founded a theater for which branch of hearts?

a.      Dance

Ø  Close Up Picture

Alpaca

Ø  …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

Ø  Blog Returns Jul 29, 2011

7-11-11

Ø  TODAY’s “Geez”:

·        1735 - Mathematical calculations suggest that it was on this day that Pluto moved from the ninth to the eighth most distant planet from the Sun for the last time before 1979

·        1804 - Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel

·        1864 - Confederate forces led by Gen J Early begin invasion of Wash DC

·        1889 – Tijuana, Mexico becomes a city

·        1893 - The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kokichi Mikimoto

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

Ah…..the monsoons.  So anticipated, so enjoyed. Flag had a long and fairly loud rain storm late last night. This afternoon it was cloudy most of the day, then the clouds let loose in mid afternoon. The people in just below the burn area seem to be doing OK with flooded streets and a few flooded yards. All those barriers, all those deep ditches, and all the other diversion methods seem to be working in preventing house flooding.

I caught up on laundry today, so tomorrow will be packing for my 13 day camping trip down the Colorado River. I must say, it is going to be strange to have no electronics all that time. Guess I’ll find out if I have withdrawal symptoms.  I was talking to a friend today, and reminded that when I came to the Rez, back in 1971 I had no electronics. In fact, upon arrival I had to use a pay phone and call collect—the pay phone didn’t take money—for the first month I was there. I didn’t have TV for the first two years. It wasn’t that hard, back then, as I hadn’t had a TV at college either. As I was pulling stuff for packing, I found a jacket from South Africa and a water bottle carrier from Borneo that I will be taking with me. I’m getting really excited about this trip. I keep thinking about what it was like for John Wesley Powell and his team, when they did it back in 1869. He was the first known White man to see the Grand Canyon from the river. I didn’t realize that Powell had coined the term ‘acculturation’ in his writings after his expedition. And of course, John Wesley did it with only one arm. I should be OK.

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

1.      In which magazine did The Addams Family first appear?

2.      Whose work for orchestra and chorus, Standing Stone, was premiered in 1997?

3.      What is Alpha World?

4.      Where in California was Disneyland opened?

5.      Who won the Best Director Oscar for Titanic?

6.      Where was the Actor's Studio established in 1947?

7.      Which stage show, which became a successful movie, features Frank N Furter and Riff Raff?

8.      Who was Michael "Rage" Hardy and James "Smarty" Cools female partner in Virtual Cop 2?

9.      In which decade did Showboat premiere at New York's Ziegfeld Theater?

10.   What is a MUD?

11.   In which European country is the theme park De Efteling?

12.   Which ethnic group popularized salsa dancing in New York in the 1980s?

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

Ø  Hmmmmm…

·        Price of a lingerie calendar produced by the Czech Public Affairs Party featuring twelve female members of parliament: $20.73

Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

·        The age recorded on a whiskey bottle refers to the number of years it is aged prior to being bottled. Once in the bottle, whiskey does not improve.

·        The custom of serving a slice of lemon with fish dates back to the Middle Ages; the lemon was originally intended for remedial purposes rather than to flavor the fish. It was believed that if a person accidentally swallowed a fish bone, the lemon juice would dissolve it.

·        A hard-boiled egg will spin. An uncooked or soft-boiled egg will not.

Ø  Yeah, It Really Happened…

NEW YORK - A New York pet shop said it has instituted a policy of not allowing intoxicated customers to buy puppies. Fernanda Moritz, manager of Le Petit Puppy in the West Village, said the store sees a lot of drunken customers due to number of nearby bars and many of them seek to buy the puppies, which cost $1,200 to $3,000, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

"It happens very often," Moritz said. "If the person is completely drunk, I won't sell them the dog... or I say they can't leave with the dog that day... I can see it in their eyes if they've been drinking." Moritz and store employees said drunken customers are more likely to experience buyer's remorse the next day when they realize the responsibility that comes with pet ownership. They said one woman returned a puppy she had named "Miller" after the beer she had been drinking the night she bought it.

Ø  Guffaw…or at least smile…

A college student challenged a senior citizen, saying it was impossible for their generation to understand his. “You grew up in a different world,” the student said. “Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, nuclear energy, computers…”

Taking advantage of a pause in the student’s litany, the geezer said, “You’re right. We didn’t have those things when we were young; so we invented them! What are you doing for the next generation??”

Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

This is not the company I am traveling with, but should have a similar experience:

Grand Canyon Expeditions River Trip down the Colorado River

Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

·        1-4  International Chicken Wing Week

·        1-7  National Unassisted Homebirth Week

·        3-9  Be Nice To New Jersey Week

·        4-10 Freedom Week

  Nude Recreation Weekend

·        10-16    Sports Cliché Week

National Farriers Week

Ø  TODAY IS

·        Bowdler's Day: A day to remember the prudish medical doctor, Thomas Bowdler, born this day near Bath, England, in 1754. He gave up the practice of medicine and undertook the cleansing of the works of Shakespeare by removing all the words and expressions he considered to be indecent or impious.

·        National Cheer Up The Lonely Day

·        International Town Criers Day

·        World Population Day: approx population 7/11/11-- 6,948,170,433

Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

▬

…  IN ATHLETICS

1962 - Brothers Hank & Tommie Aaron homer in same inning

…  IN BUSINESS

2006 - 209 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Mumbai, India

… IN EDUCATION

▬

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1713 - After the conclusion of "Queen Anne's War" in 1712, local settlers, and the Abenaki Indians finally sign a peace treaty.

1921 - Treaty Number 11 is signed. It is between the government of Canada and "Slave, Dogrib, Loucheux, Hare and other Indians, inhabitants of the territory within the limits hereinafter defined and described."

1990 - Oka Crisis: First Nations land dispute in Quebec, Canada begins

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1750 - Halifax, Nova Scotia is almost completely destroyed by fire

1905 - Niagara Movement founded by WEB Dubois

… IN RELIGION

1525 - Trial against "heretic" John Pistorius at The Hague

…  IN SCIENCE

1576 - Martin Frobisher sights Greenland

1979 - US Skylab enters atmosphere over Australia & disintegrates

…  IN US POLITICS

1789 - US Marine Corps created by an act of Congress

1798 - US Marine Corps forms

1812 - US invades Canada (Detroit frontier)

1916 - 1st federal grant-in-aid for state roads enacted Federal Aid Road Act

1944 - FDR says he would run for a 4th term

1984 - Govt orders air bags or seat belts would be required in cars by 1989

 … ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS

1826 - Alexander Afanasyev, Russian folklorist

1899 - E B White, writer (Charlotte's Web, Elements of Style)

…ATHLETES

Leon Spinks, US, heavyweight boxing champ (1978, Olympic-gold-1976) turns 51

Ken Irvin, NFL cornerback (Buffalo Bills) turns 39

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

Adrienne Barbeau, actress (Maude) turns 66

1920 - Yul Brynner, Russian-born actor 

Justin Chambers actor (Grey’s Anatomy) turns 41

1889 - Alfred E Green, director (Copacabana, Jolson Story)

Tab Hunter (Arthur Andrew Kelm), actor (Damn Yankees, Lust in the Dust, Battle Cry) turns 80

Lil' Kim, American rapper turns 36

Richie Sambora, guitarist (Bon Jovi-You Give Love a Bad Name) turns 52

Susan Seaforth Hayes, actress (Days of our Life, Young & Restless) turns 68

1894 - Walter Wanger, [Feuchtwanger], US producer (Stagecoach)

Sela Ward, actor turns 55

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

Giorgio Armani, Milan Italy, fashion designer (American Gigolo) turns 77

…POLITICIANS

1767 - John Quincy Adams, 6th President 

1274 - Robert Bruce, King of Scotland (1306-29)

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

▬

Ø  Today’s Obits:

2008 - Michael DeBakey, American surgeon and inventor dies at 99

1937 - George Gershwin, composer (American in Paris), dies after surgery for brain tumor at 38

2007 - Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States dies at 95

1989 - Laurence Olivier, acting great (Hamlet), dies at 82

2000 - Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury dies at 79

1987 - Thomas F Waddell, founder (Gay Olympics), dies of AIDS at 50

2009 - Ji Xianlin, Chinese linguist and paleographer dies at 98

Ø  ANSWERS:

Ø  Trivia Quiz

1.      In which magazine did The Addams Family first appear?

a.      New Yorker

2.      Whose work for orchestra and chorus, Standing Stone, was premiered in 1997?

a.      Paul McCartney

3.      What is Alpha World?

a.      Multi user game

4.      Where in California was Disneyland opened?

a.      Anaheim

5.      Who won the Best Director Oscar for Titanic?

a.      James Cameron

6.      Where was the Actor's Studio established in 1947?

a.      New York

7.      Which stage show, which became a successful movie, features Frank N Furter and Riff Raff?

a.      Rocky Horror Show

8.      Who was Michael "Rage" Hardy and James "Smarty" Cools female partner in Virtual Cop 2?

a.      Janet

9.      In which decade did Showboat premiere at New York's Ziegfeld Theater?

a.      1920s

10.   What is a MUD?

a.      Multi User Domain; Computer Game

11.   In which European country is the theme park De Efteling?

a.      The Netherlands

12.   Which ethnic group popularized salsa dancing in New York in the 1980s?

a.      Puerto Ricans

Close Up Picture

Ø  …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW