27 Mar

 

27 March 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 13 Day 86 \ Ave. Sky Cover 20% \ Visibility 18 miles Flagstaff Today 48° \11°  Wind 2mph \ Gusts 7mph 
Air Quality: Fair \Very Low  Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 251mi \ Nearest Lightning 999mi
Mar. Averages for Flagstaff: 51° \ 23° \6 Days of moisture
Sunshine

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

         3/22-4/8
         Lent
         19-4/16
        National Cherry Blossom Festival Link  
        20-26
        Act Happy Week
        International Teach Music Week
        National Fix A Leak Week  Link
       National Fragrance Week Link
       Shakespeare Week Link
       Wellderly Week
       21-27
        International Week of Solidarity with People's Struggling Against Racism            & Discrimination
        22-4/20
         Ramadan
        24-30
        National Farm Workers Awareness Week Link
       25-31
        National Physicians Week Link
        26-4/1
        Consider Christianity Week
        International Phace Syndrome Awareness Week
       National Cleaning Week Link
       26-4/9
         Passiontide
        26-4/1
         Passion Week

Daily Observations

Celebrate Exchange Day Link
International Medical Science Liason Day  Link
International Whisk(e)y Day Link
National Joe Day
National Scribble Day
Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day
Spanish Paella Day
Viagra Day
World Theatre Day  Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A pleasant winter day.

Last night’s discussion on Famine was very interesting. While famine has been around since the dawn of time. Famines are caused by political issues (war and policy) and climate issues (flooding and drought). The world has ways of predicting with good accuracy the potential for famine. The problem is getting the politicians to act quickly enough to prevent the famine. It will not be solved without some very hard work.

Forty years ago, Flagstaff got its Public Radio station at the local University. I have been a listener or donor since it first hit the air. Several years ago I became a sustaining member, meaning I make a monthly donation from my checking account. That makes it easy. I listen to KNAU every morning, whenever I’m driving, and other times throughout the day.  KNAU has grown and now has transmitters that serve all Northern Arizona. They have classic music transmitter and an NPR program station. I see it as a good investment in education.

I heard an interview about age and Congress the other day. The average age of Americans is 39 years old. In the House the average age is 57.5 years old. The average age in the senate is 63.9 years old. The person being interviewed believe this is why younger people have a hard time getting involved in politics, as it doesn’t seem to represent them. It also explained why older people vote more often than younger people…they are better represented. Certainly something to think about.

Enjoy…

Facts…

The colors of the twist ties on bread aren't random — they tell you what day the loaf was baked on. 

More Slang origins…

Leaf peeper

In New England, visitors who arrive in the autumn to enjoy the colorful foliage, and are a big part of the rural tourist economy, are "leaf peepers." The term most likely came from Vermont in the mid-20th century.

Beauty in our 50 states…

 

22. Texas

Texas is so damn big it can't help but have some standout sights along the way: Big Bend National Park, its extraordinary night skies, and the sweeping desert beauty of West Texas beyond, Hill Country in springtime, the open lap of the American West stretching off to the horizon. What it doesn't have is anything that is, in fact, the best in its category. There's better Western scenery as you go farther west, better forests anywhere east, better beaches in any direction 'cept straight north. But give Texas its due. Anything you'd want to take in (save snow-capped mountains) really is all here, and if you break free of the cities, the open roads here feel as open and free as anywhere.

Historical Events

1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León reached the northern end of The Bahamas on his first voyage to Florida.
1915 – Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever ID’d in the United States, was put in quarantine.
1952 – Singin’ In The Rain debuted in theaters.
2001 – Nintendo 3DS released, Video Game Console

Birthdays Today

@84 – Gloria Swanson, American actress and producer (d. 1983)
“My mother and I could always look out the same window without ever seeing the same thing.”– Gloria Swanson
@84 – Richard Denning, American actor (d. 1998)
81 – Michael York, English actor
@70 – Henry Royce, English engineer, founded Rolls-Royce Limited (d. 1933)
@66 – Sarah Vaughan, American Jazz singer (d. 1990; cancer)
“I am not a special person. I am a regular person who does special things.”– Sarah Vaughan
60 – Quentin Tarantino, Director
54 – Pauley Perrette, American actress
54 – Mariah Carey, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
52 – Nathan Fillion, Canadian actor
“I’m a plethora of stolen jokes and kitschy references.”– Nathan Fillion
48 – Fergie, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
35 – Jessie J (Jessica Ellen Cornish), English singer-songwriter
“Being perfect is boring. It’s the imperfections that make us perfect.”– Jessie J
35 – Brenda Song, American actress
“Coming from The Disney Channel, anything I do is going to offend someone, somewhere, somehow.”– Brenda Song
34 – Holliday Grainger, English actress

 
 

26 Mar

 

26 March 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 13 Day 85 \ Ave. Sky Cover a% \ Visibility 17 miles Flagstaff Today 52° \14°  Wind 8mph \ Gusts 16mph 
Air Quality: Fair \Very Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 251mi \ Nearest Lightning 1657mi
Mar. Averages for Flagstaff: 51° \ 23° \6 Days of moisture
Cloudy

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

3/22-4/8
       Lent
        19-4/16
        National Cherry Blossom Festival Link  
20-26
20-26
         Act Happy Week
International Teach Music Week
National Fix A Leak Week  Link
National Fragrance Week Link
Shakespeare Week Link
Wellderly Week
21-27
         International Week of Solidarity with People's Struggling Against Racism & Discrimination
         22-4/20
        Ramadan
24-30
        National Farm Workers Awareness Week Link
25-31
        National Physicians Week Link
26-4/1
        Consider Christianity Week
International Phace Syndrome Awareness Week
National Cleaning Week Link
26-4/9
         Passiontide
26-4/1
         Passion Week

Daily Observations

  Greek Independence Day
Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
Nougat Day
Spinach Day

  Legal Assistants Day
Live Long And Prosper Day
Make Up Your Own Holiday Day
Purple Day Link
Spinach Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Lots of clouds. Weather guy says snow early this evening.

It looks like the strike for more pay and benefits in LA public schools may be over. Looks like the Union is getting a lot of what they asked for. That’s good.

Liquid Albuterol, needed for asthma, COPD, and other problems with breathing is in short supply. The major company has closed and is no longer making it.

My brother and his wife have been taking in stray dogs for over a decade. Last year they held a one-day spay and neuter clinic in their tiny town. The clinic fixed 140 dogs in that one day…free to the owners. This year they are doing a 3-day event in 3 tiny towns near their place. So proud of their work.  

Enjoy…

 

Facts…

Prior to the 20th century, squirrels were one of America's most popular pets. 

More Slang origins…

Piece of cake

In the 19th century, it was common to award cakes to winners at competitions, hence the idea of something being a "piece of cake."  "Cakewalk," which has a similar meaning, was actually the name of a dance competition. Plantation owners in the pre-Civil War South served as judges at cakewalks, wherein enslaved people went through a series of complicated dance moves that were most likely done in mockery of the plantation owners.

Beauty in our 50 states…

23. Wisconsin

More than prairies and dairies. You could wander 800 miles along the shores of Lakes Superior and Michigan, not including the 15,000-odd lakes scattered around the rest of the state. (Yes, that’s more than Minnesota’s Land of Ten Thousand Lakes.) The state lacks a single grand, signature natural feature that you just gotta go see, though the Apostle Islands are one-of-a-kind and you'll be hard-pressed to find country more pleasant than Door County. But to truly appreciate Wisconsin's full array of cliffs, forests, water, and the occasional natural stone bridge, take the 1,200-mile-long Ice Age Trail that winds through the state like a tapeworm. Glaciers left these lakes and boulders for you to enjoy, so you might as well use 'em.

Historical Events

1484 – William Caxton printed his translation of Aesop’s Fables.
1812 – A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coined the term “gerrymander” to describe oddly shaped electoral districts.
1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention came into force.
1979 – Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin, and Jimmy Carter signed the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty in Washington, DC.

Birthdays Today

93 – Sandra Day O’Connor, American lawyer and jurist
“Society as a whole benefits immeasurably from a climate in which all persons, regardless of race or gender, may have the opportunity to earn respect, responsibility, advancement, and remuneration based on ability.”
– Sandra Day O’Connor
89 – Alan Arkin, American actor
@83 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor (d. 2015)
83 – Nancy Pelosi, politician
@82 – James Caan, American actor
79 – Diana Ross, American singer-songwriter
“Take a little time out of your busy day to give encouragement to someone who’s lost their way.”– Diana Ross
75 – Steven Tyler, American singer-songwriter
74 – Vicki Lawrence, American actress, singer
@71 – Guccio Gucci, Italian fashion designer, founded Gucci (d. 1953)
@71 – Tennessee Williams (Thomas Lanier Williams III), playwright, poet (d. 1983; choked)
@59 – Teddy Pendergrass, American singer-songwriter (d. 2010; respiratory failure)
“Life didn’t promise to be wonderful.”– Teddy Pendergrass
69 – Curtis Sliwa, American activist, founded Guardian Angels
66 – Leeza Gibbons, American talk show host and television personality
63 – Jennifer Grey, American actress and dancer
“I’ll always be this once-famous actress nobody recognizes… because of a nose job.”– Jennifer Grey
55 – Kenny Chesney, American singer-songwriter
47 – Amy Smart, American actress
38 – Keira Knightley, English actress
“Be happy in your body. It’s the only one you’ve got, so you might as well like it.”– Keira Knightley

 
 

25 Mar

25 March 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 12 Day 84 \ Ave. Sky Cover 30% \ Visibility 15 miles Flagstaff Today 50° \15°  Wind 8mph \ Gusts 19mph 
Air Quality: Fair \Very Low Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 251mi \ Nearest Lightning 241mi
Mar. Averages for Flagstaff: 51° \ 23° \6 Days of moisture
Windy--Sunshine

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

  22-4/8
  Lent
  19-4/16
  National Cherry Blossom Festival Link  
19-25
  American Chocolate Week Link
  National Agriculture Week
  National Animal Poison Prevention Week Link  Link
  National Inhalant and Poisons Awareness Week  Link   Link
  National Poison Prevention Week Link
  National Protocol Officer's Week
  World Folktales & Fables Week
20-26
  Act Happy Week
  International Teach Music Week
  National Fix A Leak Week  Link
  National Fragrance Week Link
  Shakespeare Week Link
  Wellderly Week
21-27
  International Week of Solidarity with People's Struggling Against Racism & Discrimination
  22-4/20
  Ramadan
24-30
  National Farm Workers Awareness Week Link
25-31
  National Physicians Week Link

Daily Observations

Be Mad Day
Earth Hour Link (This pertains to turning off lights at 8:30 pm local time.)
Endometriosis March Day Link 
International Day of Remembrance of The Victims of Slavery and The Transatlantic
International Day of The Unborn Child 
International Day of Remembrance of The Victims of Slavery and The Transatlantic
International Day of The Unborn Child  Link
International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Lobster Newburg Day
Maryland Day
Medal of Honor Day
Members Link
National Day of Celebration of Greek & American Democracy
National Medal of Honor Day
Old New Year's Day
Pecan Day
Support Women Artists Now Day 
Tolkien Reading Day
Vaffeldagen (Waffle Day) Link (Note: This is Sweden and Denmark.)
Waffle Day
Walk In The Sand Day Link 
  Whole Grain Sampling Day
  Whole Grain Sampling Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

About an inch of snow last night. Mostly melted. A bit windy.

I headed out for a haircut this morning. I asked about the lady who has been cutting my hair for a couple of years. Stylist replied, “I don’t get into the gossip.” Good haircut. I’ll stick with this one, until this one disappears.

Andy and Faith are heading back to Flag. They have been in Phx about 2 weeks to care for his brother in the hospital. He is now eating some food and will be moved to rehab center today. Hopefully he will recover.

French protests over retirement age are increasing in violence. Now they are burning vehicles. The raise in age is from 62 to 64. France still will have the lowest retirement age of most developed countries are at 65, with a few at 67.  

Enjoy…

 

Facts…

Donald Trump, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton were born in consecutive months of the same year. 

*** 

"I want to remind folks that Michelangelo’s statue of David was commissioned to be installed in a niche in a cathedral.

"However, once Michelangelo unveiled it, the people who paid for it changed their minds: they decided that it was too magnificent to be displayed up in the cathedral where it would be 80m away from its viewers.

Instead, they installed it in Florence’s municipal square: the most visible and public possible place of honor.

"Those Florida parents who objected to their children seeing it would have been considered backwards and ignorant in 1504."

More Slang origins…

Fuzz

Yes, people in the 1960s had a whole lot of slang for the police. Still, why policemen were called the fuzz during the '60s is anybody's guess. Could it be the military style crew cuts that cops preferred during that decade? Possibly, but we may never know.

Beauty in our 50 states…

24. Minnesota

This US state might as well change its name to Canada Lite. Along the North Shore, you’ll find rugged lakeside cliffs lined with lighthouses and deep forests that conceal stellar hiking trails and waterfalls; come in the summertime, when the Boundary Waters offers some of the most sought-after fishing and canoeing in the upper prairie. The sheer, rugged Lake Superior shoreline gives another glimpse of raw North America, and the pocky glacial holes around Interstate State Park will remind you how far north you really are.

Historical Events

1584 – Sir Walter Raleigh is granted permission to colonize Virginia.
Until 1752, March 25 was considered New Year’s Day in Great Britain and its colonies.
1807 – The Slave Trade Act abolished the slave trade in the British Empire.
1911 – The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in NYC killed146 garment workers.
1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their “Bed-In For Peace” in Amsterdam.

Birthdays Today

97 – Gene Shalit, American journalist, critic
80 – Paul Michael Glaser, American actor
@77 – Howard Cosell, American broadcaster,journalist, author (d. 1995; embolism)
@76 – Aretha Franklin, American singer-songwriter, Queen of Soul (d. 2018; cancer)
“Be your own artist, and always be confident in what you’re doing. If you’re not going to be confident, you might as well not be doing it.”– Aretha Franklin
76 – Sir Elton John, English singer-songwriter,
@61 – Hoyt Axton, American singer-songwriter, actor (d. 1999; heart attack)
“Oklahoma is the cultural center of the universe.”– Hoyt Axton
61 – Marcia Cross, American actress
58 – Sarah Jessica Parker, American actress
41 – Danica Patrick, American race car driver
“Take those chances and you can achieve greatness, whereas if you go conservative, you’ll never know. I truly believe what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Even if you fail, learning and moving on is sometimes the best thing.”– Danica Patrick
39 – Katharine McPhee, American singer-songwriter, actress
35 – Big Sean, American rapper
“Patience is the ability to accept trouble, suffering, delay without getting angry or upset, I feel like if you can master patience you can master anything.”– Big Sean
34 – Aly Michalka, American singer-songwriter, actress
“You have to be happy with yourself first of all – that’s the most important thing.”– Aly Michalka
@30 – Johnny Burnette, American singer-songwriter (d. 1964; boating accident)