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Flagstaff Almanac: Week: 13/ Day: 87 Today: H 58°…L 26°
Averages: H
53° L 25°
Records: H 70°(1986)…L -1°(1975)
Wind: ave: 15mph; Gusts: 26mph Ave. humidity: 41%
Quote of the Day
Today’s Historical Highlights
1st ambulance goes into service►1866
1st microfilm device introduced►1922
1st National Curling Championship held►1957
Astrid Lindgren sprains ankle & begins
writing Pippi Longstocking►1944
Greatest Show On Earth was formed by PT Barnum
& James A Bailey►1881
Louvre opens to the public (although
officially opened since August) ►1794
Major nuclear accident at 3 Mile Island,
Middletown, Pa (no deaths) ►1979
Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably
under Ragnar Lodbrok►845
US Salvation Army officially organized►1885
♪ ♪ Happy
Birthday To: ♪. ♪
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays
Free Rambling Thoughts
Busy day today. Got my tax stuff together and
dropped it off at the tax preparer. So nice to have a ‘tax guy’. I drop off my
stuff and in a week or so he will call to give me the news. When I pick them up
we go over everything and make any necessary changes. So much easier than
sitting there for an couple of hours and still be told that he has to review
it. A couple of weeks ago one of my planters got broken. Not sure how it
happened…it was plastic and I figure some young kid jumped on the edge. Anyway,
it had some bulbs in it. So today I replanted the bulbs in a new container. I
hope it works, since they had already started growing. They hadn’t broken
through yet, but had small green sprouts on them. If not, I will buy some more
this fall. I also did some shopping and got a few things. Time to get ready for
spring.
After several months of correspondence with an
insurance company, I got a check today from my mother’s estate. I didn’t even
know it existed until a couple of months ago. My brother and I are splitting the
policy, but neither of us balks at a $6K check each. Thanks mom and dad.
This whole N. Korea thing is worrisome. We
have heard it before, but the new leader may not have the control of the military
that his father had. The important thing to remember in this whole situation is
that the people of N. Korea do not hate the world. They have only heard that
all their problems are because of others outside the country. A couple of
recent documentaries by people who have visited N. Korea make it clear that the
people do not have the same feelings about other countries that the government
has. The people are not going to revolt as their lives are so destitute and
believe their government is doing their best to make matters better. A sad
commentary for all involved.
Game
Center (answers at the
end of post)
Brain Teasers
I constantly collide into all the others,
The only one of 16 without colors.
Associated with English and banking and breaking,
The answer is right there for the taking.
******
Hint
Chalk this one up to nightlife....
Lifestyle
Substance:
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
from Cracked.com
Ridiculous Natural Disaster Myths You
Probably Believe
Opening a
Window During a Storm Relieves Pressure
The Myth: If you live in tornado country or have ever been through a hurricane,
you've heard this one. When the storm comes, don't batten down the hatches --
open things up. Yes, some rain will blow into the house, but it will also keep
the place from exploding like a wood-and-plaster balloon.
The Reality: The problem is that they're
exaggerating the pressure difference. After all, you don't need a space shuttle
decompression chamber each time you leave your house in a storm -- and your
fleshy body is a lot less structurally sound than a house. So if a storm isn't
sucking the eyeballs out of your head, Total Recall-style, there's
really no chance it's going to tear the roof off your house. It's the 150-mph
winds that do that.
A Giant
Earthquake Will Cause California to Fall into the Pacific
The Myth:
If you read any of the news stories about how
California is due for a massive earthquake, they sound suspiciously like excerpts
from the book of Revelation. They promise massive fires, gaping chasms,
swallowed cities, and tens of thousands of deaths. While those prophecies are
grim, they aren't completely unreasonable -- California exists squarely on a
fault line, which is basically like a perforated line showing Mother Nature
exactly where to tear.
The Reality:
It can never happen. Yes, tectonic plates are
a thing, and yes, land masses do move. But continents don't drift around the
ocean like icebergs -- not only would it be impossible for an entire state to
just snap off of North America, but the movement of the plates on the fault
line is actually pushing them across each other, not tearing them apart. The
Pacific Plate and the North American Plate are grinding against each other like
young, unlubricated lovers rolling around in the sand. All the drag from the
friction means that the movement is choppy, which is why earthquakes are just
as common in California as silicone.
Even if the plates were pulling away from one
another, there would still be a better chance of California
getting obliterated by an asteroid before it sinks into the ocean because of
plate tectonics. Tectonic plates have a blistering top speed of about 100
millimeters a year. That's just not fast enough to make a 163,696-square-mile
state rip itself from the mainland and swim away, at least not until millions
of years from now.
Ok, then?
Harper’s Index
Minimum number of Red Bull-sponsored athletes who
have died in parachuting, paragliding, and sky diving stunts: 5
Picture of the Day: Dine’ Land [Navajo]
Unusual Fact of the Day
Frederick Arthur Stanley is one of the
best-known names in professional hockey. He's the Lord Stanley behind the
Stanley Cup.
Joke-of-the-day
Investigators
at a major research institute have discovered the heaviest element known to
science. This startling new discovery has been tentatively named Administratium
(Ad).
The new element has no protons or electrons, thus having an atomic number
of 0. It does, however, have 1 neutron, 125 assistant neutrons, 75 vice
neutrons, and 111 assistant vice neutrons, for an atomic mass of 312. These 312
particles are held together by a force called morons, which are surrounded by
vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since it has no
electrons, Administratium is inert.
However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it
came into contact.
According to the discoverers, a minute amount of Administratium causes
one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would normally take
less than a second. Administratium has a normal half-life of approximately
three years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which
a portion of the assistant neutrons, viceneutrons, and assistant vice neutrons
exchange places. In fact, an Administratium sample's mass will actually
increase over time, since with each reorganization some of the morons
inevitably become neutrons, forming new isotopes. This characteristic of moron
promotion
leads some scientists to speculate that Administratium is formed whenever
morons reach a certain concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to
as the "Critical Morass".
Rules of Thumb:
Easy
shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
HOW MUCH SHELF SPACE 6 GIGS WOULD TAKE
600 gigabytes
of data will fill about six floors of an academic library.
Yeah, It Really Happened
EAST
LANSING, Mich. - U.S. scientists have announced the first-ever discovery of a two-headed
bull shark, confirming it was a single shark with two heads, not conjoined
twins. Michigan State University researchers studying the specimen found in the
uterus of an adult bull shark taken in the Gulf of Mexico April 7, 2011, said
it was the first record of the phenomenon known as dicephalia ever seen in bull
sharks although it has been seen before in other species of shark. "This
is certainly one of those interesting and rarely detected phenomena," MSU
fisheries and wildlife Professor Michael Wagner said. "It's good that we
have this documented as part of the world's natural history, but we'd certainly
have to find many more before we could draw any conclusions about what caused
this." A fisherman found the two-headed specimen when he cut open the
adult shark, Wagner said, and it died shortly thereafter. It would have had
little, if any, chance to survive in the wild, he said. "You'll see many
more cases of two-headed lizards and snakes," Wagner said in a university
release Monday. "That's because those organisms are often bred in
captivity, and the breeders are more likely to observe the anomalies." An
MRI scan revealed two distinct heads, hearts and stomachs with the remainder of
the body joining together in the back half of the animal to form a single tail,
the researchers said.
Somewhat Useless Information
- Persians
first began using colored eggs to celebrate spring in 3,000 B.C. 13th century
Macedonians were the first Christians on record to use colored eggs in Easter
celebrations. Crusaders returning from the Middle East spread the custom of
coloring eggs, and Europeans began to use them to celebrate Easter and other
warm weather holidays.
- The
origin of the Easter Bunny can be traced back to 13th-century, pre-Christian
Germany. The Teutonic deity Eostra was the goddess of spring and fertility, and
feasts were held in her honor on the Vernal Equinox. Her symbol was the rabbit
because of the animal's high reproduction rate.
- These legends were brought to America in the 1700s, when German immigrants
settled in Pennsylvania Dutch country.
Calendar Information
Happening This Week:
24-30
Tsunami Awareness Week
Pediatric Nurse Practioner
Week
National Protocol Officer's Week
National Cleaning Week
Termite Awareness Week
Today Is
Barnum & Bailey Day
Weed Appreciation Day
~Czech Republic…Teachers' Day
Today’s Events through History
Court rules today that Montana State Courts
"are without jurisdiction to try an Indian for the crime of larceny
committed somewhere within the external boundaries of the BLACKFEET Indian Reservation,
although conceivably the offense could have been committed within the town of
Browning, Montana located on the reservation."►1957
Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers discovers 2
Pallas, the second asteroid known to man►1802
Mexico drops diplomatic relations with US►1845
Ohio passed law restricting movement of Blacks►1804
Pope John raises the 1st Japanese, 1st African
& 1st Filipino cardinal►1960
President Bush awards Jesse Owen the
Congressional Gold Medal►1990
Wilt Chamberlain plays his last pro basketball
game►1972
Today’s Birthdays
In their 70’s
Conchata Ferrell , actress (Deadly Hero,
Susan-LA Law) is 70
Charlie McCoy,
harmonica player (Hee Haw) is 72
In their 60’s
Ken Howard, American actor (Ken-White Shadow,
Dynasty, 1776) is 69
In their 50’s
Bart Wayne Conner, gymnast (Olympic-2
gold-1984) is 55
Reba McEntire, country singer (Can't Even Get
the Blues) is 58
In their 40’s
Salt [Cheryl James], rocker (Salt 'n'
Pepa-Shake Ya Thang) is 47
Vince Vaughn, actor (Swingers, Wedding
Crashers) is 43
In their 30’s
Kate Gosselin, reality TV is 38
Julia Stiles, actress (Bourne series,
Save the Last Dance) is 32
Under 30
Lady Gaga [Stefani Germanotta], New York,
singer/songwriter (Bad Romance) is 27
Remembered
for being born today
August Anheuser Busch, Jr., brewing magnate
and American baseball executive [1899-1999]
Frederick Pabst, American brewer [1836-1904]
Frank Lovejoy, actor (Man Against Crime, Meet
McGraw) [1912-1962]
Marlin Perkins, TV host (Mutual of Omaha's
Wild Kingdom) [1905-1986]
Henry Schoolcraft, American geographer and
geologist [1793-1864]
Today’s Historical Obits
Dwight D Eisenhower, 34th pres/gen (WW 2) ►heart failure►1969►at 78
Art James, American game show host►natural causes►2004►at 74
Emmett Kelly, circus clown (Weary Willy) ►1979►at 80
Jesse Owens, (Oly-gold-36) ►lung cancer►1980►at 66
James Francis Thorpe [Tho-Huk-Bright Path],
Sac & Fox decathelete (Olympic-gold-12) ►heart failure►1953►at 64
Sergei Vasilievitch Rachmaninov, Russian
composer/pianist►melanoma►1943►at 69
Earl Scruggs, American bluegrass musician►natural causes►2012►at 88
Caspar Weinberger, United States Secretary of
Defense►2006►at 88
Virginia Woolf-Stephen [Adeline] , author (To
Lighthouse) ►suicide►1941►at 59
Answer: Brain Teasers
The cue ball on a pool table.
English is when spin is put on the cue ball to make it curve or bounce
differently off the rail. Banking is when a shot is played off the rail.
Breaking is the first shot played in a game of pool. The hint refers to the
fact that chalk is placed on a cue before it strikes the cue ball.
Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel
free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is from the internet
sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned
that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there,
many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events
occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be
totally accurate.
§ And That Is All for Now §
