7/17/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 29/ Day: 198   Today: H 70°…L 59°
Wind: ave:   2mph; Gusts:  8mph  Ave. humidity:  63%
* Average Low   Average High     Record Low        Record High
           51°                    83°                 40° (1904)            91° (1980)
Quote of the Day



Today’s Historical Highlights
1st quadraphonic studio in UK is open by Moody Blues…1974
21st Olympic games open in Montreal…1976
British humor magazine "Punch" 1st published…1841
British Royal family changes its name from Hanover to Windsor…1917
Congress authorizes paper money…1861
Disneyland construction begins…1954
Disneyland opens its doors in rural Orange County…1955
Dr Leakey discovers oldest human skull (600,000 years old)…1959
Potsdam Conference (FDR, Stalin, Churchill) holds 1st meeting…1945
Spanish American War - Spaniards surrender to US at Santiago Cuba…1898

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays



My Free Rambling Thoughts   
The day started out overcast then it cleared up. Early in the afternoon a thunderstorm hit with very hard rain for over an hour. The people below the burn area had roads covered with debris and water. There is a small pond near a very cool restaurant just outside of town. The deluge filled the pond with debris and the earthen dam began leaking. Pre-evacuation notices were sent out to residents across the highway from the pond. No updates yet. We are a small town and don’t have a bevy of reporters or news helicopters to hit the airways, so we have to wait for FB updates until tomorrow’s paper gives us the details. The Phoenix metro area had their huge storm yesterday, and most evening programming was interrupted by the constant updates either with live reports or that news banner that goes across the screen.
 
I remember when I was working in Tuba, I began much of the information that turned into this blog.  It was part of my daily bulletin to give teachers a little history for their classrooms. During our recent heat wave, I read that Death Valley held the record for the hottest recorded temperature on earth. I checked a couple of sources when I heard this, because I recalled posting the highest temperature being in the Sahara Desert in the 1920’s. All sources said it was Death Valley. So for a couple of weeks I have been wondering how my brain could store something like that and be so wrong. Thanks to CNN today I found out my brain was working just fine. Last year a group of American scientists reviewed the information from Libya’s record setting temperature in 1922 at 136°. These scientists determined that the gauges used way back then were deemed not to be reliable. This meant that the world’s leading meteorologists studied the data and decided that Death Valley is the record holder. In 1922 Libya was under Italian occupation. Interesting.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Can you decipher this phrase?
T _ _ E

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Hmmmm…Oxymorons
Definite maybe Deliberate thoughtlessness Dry wine
Ok, then?



Harper’s Index    
  • Number of on-air minutes during the last fall’s campaign season that CNN devoted to climate change: 23
  • To Joe Biden’s smile: 43

Picture of the Day: Hybrid Animals



Unusual Fact of the Day
The only father-daughter collaboration to hit number one on the Billboard pop chart was “Something Stupid” by Frank & Nancy Sinatra in 1967.
Joke-of-the-day
There was a man sitting at a bar, and he looks over at the gentleman sitting next to him and says, "Hey, you look familiar.
Are you from around here?" The man answers, "Yeah, I live down the street."
"No kidding?" says the first man, "Well, so do I. And hey, you look about my age. Where did you go to high school?"
"Oh I went to Francis Lewis over on Utopia. Graduated in '66.
How 'bout you?"
"Get out. I went to Francis Lewis. And I graduated in '66, too." "Where'd you go to college?"
"Beloit, in Wisconsin."
"No way! I went to Beloit too. What dorm?"
"Kevin Sullivan dorm."
"Sullivan? You're not going to believe this . . ."
Joe the bartender walks over, and the first guy says, "Joe, you won't believe it in a million years. This guy went to the same high school as me, graduated the same year I did, and went to the same college. We were even in the same dorm. Isn't that amazing?"
Joe looks at them both and says, "Yeah, that's just plain amazing."
A third man comes in and says, "Hey Joe. What's new?" Joe says, "Not much. The Johnson twins are drunk again."  
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
GETTING RID OF BACK PAIN
 If your back hurts more when you walk down stairs, down a hill, or sit down in a chair, you need to do flexion exercises.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
SAN DIEGO — School officials say lunchtime dares to drink a weird concoction that included hot sauce, carrots, salt and milk likely caused 22 students to get sick at a San Diego elementary school – if all of them were actually ill.
San Diego schools spokesman Jack Brandais says Friday that children at Audubon Elementary dared each other to drink from the mixture Thursday. Some reported upset stomachs and nausea afterward.
Teachers then made a general announcement to see if other students had stomach problems. Brandais says that call brought out students "who may not have had problems at all."
Of the 22 students, 18 were taken to the hospital, and all were later released.
As a precaution, the school's kitchen, cafeteria and outdoor lunch areas were sanitized overnight.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • LEGO means to play well. It comes from the combination and abbreviation of two words in Danish "leg godt". LEGO should always be written in capital letters. 
  • The LEGO brick was named "Toy of the Century" by Fortune magazine and the British Association of Toy Retailers.
  • Approximately 19 billion LEGO elements are manufactured each year. 
  • LEGO Bricks are made in Billund, Denmark.
  • A LEGO element is rejected if is does not meet the company's standards. LEGO estimates that out of every one million elements that are produced, only 18 end up being rejected.
  • LEGO should never appear by itself, but should be paired with a noun: LEGO piece, LEGO set, LEGO universe.  


Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
14-20
Everybody Deserves A Massage Week
Sports Cliché Week
Rabbit Week
National Baby Food Week
National Ventriloquism Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        Get to Know Your Customers Day
·        National Peach Ice Cream Day
^^
·        South Korea: Constitution Day

Today’s Events through History  
1st US dental school, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, established…1867
Beatle's animated film "Yellow Submarine" premieres in London…1968
Douglas (Wrong Way) Corrigan leaves NY for LA, wound up in Ireland…1938
Military uprising under Gen Franco/begins Spanish civil war…1936
Sir Walter Raleigh arrested…1603
Tiger Woods wins his 10th major winning The British Open Championship by 5 strokes…2005
US army authorized to accept blacks as laborers…1862

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
In their 70’s
Diahann Carroll, actress (Julia, Claudine, Dominique-Dynasty) is 78
Spencer Davis, Wales, vocalist (Spencer Davis Group-Gimme Some Lovin) is 74
Gale Garnett, Auckland NZ, singer (We'll Sing in the Sunshine) is 71
Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor (M*A*S*H, Body Snatchers) is 78

In their 60’s
Camilla Parker Bowles (Duchess of Cornwall), 2nd wife of Prince Charles is 66
David Hasselhoff, actor (Night Rider, Mitch-Baywatch) is 61

Remembered for being born today
John Jacob Astor, Germany, richest man in US, banker/fur trader [1763-1848]
James Cagney, actor (Yankee Doodle Dandy) [1899-1986]
Phyllis Diller, comedienne (Boy, Did I Get a Wrong Number) [1917-2012]
Erle Stanley Gardner, US detective writer (Perry Mason), [1889-1970]
Gordon Gould, inventor of the laser [1920- 2005]
Art Linkletter, Saskatchewan Canada, TV host (People are Funny) [1912-2010]
Eelco Refer, linguist (Dictionary for the Dutch translator) [1830-1880]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Nicholas II Alexandrovich, last Tsar of Russia…executed…1918…at 50
Ty Cobb, baseball great (Det Tigers)…cancer…1961…at 74
John Coltrane, jazz sax/composer (Round Midnight)…liver cancer…1967…at 40
Walter Cronkite, broadcast journalist…2009…at 92
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean, pitcher/sportscaster…heart attack…1974…at 64
Billie Holiday, jazz singer…cirrhosis…1959…at 44
Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, French fur trader and explorer…yellow fever…1704…at 47
Adam Smith, Scottish economist and philosopher…painful illness…1790…at 67
Mickey Spillane, crime novel author…2006…at 88

Answer: Brain Teasers
I'm out of time. I M are out of T I M E.
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  §
Posted by No comments:

7/16/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 29/ Day: 197   Today: H 78°…L 55°
Wind: ave:   5mph; Gusts:  18mph  Ave. humidity:  58%
* Average Low Average High     Record Low          Record High      
           50°                    83°                 37° (2001)            92° (1961)
Quote of the Day



Today’s Historical Highlights
1st banknotes in Europe were issued by Bank of Stockholm…1661
Apollo 11, carrying 1st men to land on Moon, launched…1969
Battle of Bull Run, the 1st major battle of the Civil War, is fought…1861
During Watergate hearings, Butterfield reveals existence of tapes…1973
Florence Joyner runs 100 m in women's world record 10.49 seconds…1988
Kissing is banned in England (to stop germs from spreading)…1439
Last Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey Circus under a canvas tent…1956
Marine Maj John Glenn sets transcontinental speed record (03:28:08)…1957
Moslem Era begins-Mahomet begins flight from Mecca to Medina (Hejira)…622
National Geographic takes 1st natural-color undersea photos…1926

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays



My Free Rambling Thoughts   
A nice Monday with a nice breeze, a couple of light showers, a few clouds. Good day

For the past few years I have needed eye drops. When I need a renewal, I call the Dr.’s office and have them call it in. If I call the pharmacy, it takes two days to get the renewal; if I call the Dr. it usually takes a couple of hours. I was greeted by the receptionist at the Dr.’s office with “Please hold” when I called at 8:15…they open at 8:00. I waited and then she said, it’s a lot faster to call the pharmacy. I told her that was not my experience. She took my info, and the pharmacy called about noon to tell me the script was ready. The office staff at the Dr.’s office is newish so I chalk it up to experience…but will get it straightened out when I have my next appointment. The pharmacy also told me they are adding a new window so we don’t have to wait so long while other’s get their scripts. There are almost always the customer being helped +1 or 2 waiting…good deal…I guess they are having a big business in our little town.

One of our city council persons posted an interesting and thoughtful message on FB. Her question: At what age does a Black child find out he is scary? A good question, even in our small town. She happens to be Black, but raises a good question for any child. I certainly don’t have an answer, but it is time that the question comes out for a national discussion. So many Americans see someone who looks different then s/he does and assumes the worst. Years ago I was in charge of a field trip for about 60 middle school children. We planned a stop at a local Flagstaff store on the way home so the students could spend a little money. I called ahead to let them know we were coming so they could have the necessary staff to serve us at the checkout. When we walked into the store, I told them we were expected. Immediately there was an employee standing at the end of each aisle watching the students for shop lifting. I know this because I asked. I told the students were we leaving with no purchases. They were upset with me and told me they were used to being watched at any store in Flagstaff. I had a hard time allowing the business to make such an overall view of kids who were chaperoned. I guess for many businesses, they assume kids steal….all kids…all the time.

I was shocked when I saw the names of the Asiana Airlines crew. Anyone with half a brain would have seen the list as a joke…making fun of Korean names…and blatantly racist. Turns out that an intern at the NTSB verified the names. I’m not sure that it is lawsuit material, but certainly shows that our country has a long way to go to be culturally aware of other cultures. So very childish.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Homer had suffered a bizarre accident that affected his eyesight. The doctor said it would be temporary, but for the next 4 weeks, he had to adjust how he did some things. The accident had affected his focal length. He was only able to focus on objects that were 6 or more feet away from him, anything closer than 6 feet was just a blur.
Homer was used to shaving up close in front of his bathroom mirror. Now after the accident, how close could Homer get to the mirror to see his face clearly enough to shave?
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Hmmmm…Oxymorons
Real potential Recorded live Resident alien
Ok, then?



Harper’s Index    
  • Number of presidential question and answer sessions held with the media during George W. Bush’s first term: 355
  • During Obama’s first term: 107

Picture of the Day: Hybrid Animals



Unusual Fact of the Day
Naperville Central High School near Chicago, Illinois, is the only high school in America with an Egyptian mummy.
Joke-of-the-day
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and went to sleep.
Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" Holmes asked.
Watson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
What does it tell you?"
Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke.
"Watson, you idiot. Somebody has stolen our tent!"
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
CHOOSING A SURGICAL ASSISTANT
If you are a surgeon, choose an assistant surgeon whose height is within five inches of yours. Otherwise, you will disagree on the height of the surgery table and if an operation is long, one of you will end up with back pain.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
A commuter videotaped 41-year-old New Jersey bus driver George Simpson Jr. masturbating behind the wheel.
The video shows him maneuvering the bus through heavy traffic and the Lincoln Tunnel while pleasuring himself. The bus was traveling from Carteret to New York City.
New Jersey Transit police have charged Simpson with risking injury or damage by removing his hands from the wheel. He is also accused of lewdness and reckless driving.
In a statement, a NJ Transit spokesman said the driver was immediately removed from service without pay because of "disturbing and grossly irresponsible conduct." 
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • Not all wines improve with time. In fact, a vast majority of wines produced are ready to drink and do not have much potential for aging. Only a rare few will last longer than a decade.
  • Red wines are red because fermentation extracts color from the grape skins. White wines are not fermented with the skins present.


Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
14-20
Everybody Deserves A Massage Week
Sports Cliché Week
Rabbit Week
National Baby Food Week
National Ventriloquism Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        International Juggling Day
·        National Woodie Wagon Day
·        Toss Away the "Could Haves" and "Should Haves" Day
·        Wrong Way Corrigan Day
^^
·        Bolivia: La Paz Day (1809 Pedro Domingo Murillo led a revolt of mestizos, or those of mixed European and South American heritage, against the Spanish authorities)

Today’s Events through History  
Franciscan Father Junipero Serra founds the Mission San Diego de Alcala in what 
     becomes San Diego, CA…1769
Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets women's heptathlete record of 7,215 pts…1988
Millennium Park, considered the first and most ambitious architectural project in the 
    early 21st century for Chicago, is opened to the public…2004
Ronald Reagan nominated for Pres by Republicans in Detroit…1980
US Congress establishes District of Columbia…1790

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
In their 80’s
Bess Myerson, 1st Jewish Miss America (1945) is 89

In their 50’s
Michael Flatley, Irish choreographer (Lord of Dance) is 55

In their 40’s
Will Ferrell, comedian, actor is 46
  
Remembered for being born today
Roald Amundsen, Norway, explorer, discovered South Pole [1872-1928]
Mary Baker Eddy, founded Christian Science [1821-1910]
Barnard Hughes, actor (Tron, Where's Poppa, Best Friends) [1916-2006]
Orville Redenbacher, popcorn King (Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet) [1907-1995]
Ginger Rogers, [Virginia McMath], dancer (Gay Divorcee) [1911-1995]
Barbara Stanwyck, actress (Dynasty II, Big Valley, Thorn Birds) [1907-1990]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
El Cid, [Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar], Spanish general strategist…famine…1099…at 59
Harry Chapin, folk vocalist…car crash…1981…at 38
Max Factor Jr, makeup inventor…1995…at 91
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, wife of John F. Kennedy, Jr….plane crash…1999…at 33  
John F. Kennedy, Jr., American publisher…plane crash…1999…at 38
Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the US…1882…at 63
Tad Lincoln, son of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln…TB…1871…at 18
Jo Stafford, singer of traditional pop music…2008…at 90
Kitty Wells, country singer…2012…at 92
Ellen White, American co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church…1915…at 87

Answer: Brain Teasers
3 feet 
Your focal length in a mirror is your distance away from the mirror, plus the distance of the object away from the mirror. When you look at an object in a mirror, you are seeing a virtual image the exact distance it is away from the mirror. So, if you are standing 3 feet away from a mirror, and focus on your face, you are actually focusing at 6 feet.
To try this out, put a piece of tape on a mirror, about eye level. Standing in front of the mirror, focus your eyes on the tape, now your face is out of focus. Focus now on your face, and the tape is out of focus.

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  §
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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.