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Saturday, November 29, 2014

Luxury tech gifts - YouTube

Video (2:57)



Luxury tech gifts - YouTube

Great Lakes Lighthouse

From U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Region:




Winters are dramatic along the Great Lakes. Just ask this lighthouse - it has been taking on the waves for more than 100 years!

Photo: St. Joseph North Pier Outer Lighthouse on Lake Michigan courtesy of Tom Gill/Creative Commons.

Today in 1996

From Ayn Owens:


today in 1996 - The U.S. space shuttle Columbia had a screw loose. A stuck hatch (later blamed on that loose screw) prevented astronauts Tammy Jernigan and Tom Jones from taking a spacewalk.

Chart Toppers Back in another Day

From Ayn Owens:


chart toppers today in 1976 Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright) - Rod Stewart
The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
The Rubberband Man - Spinners
Good Woman Blues - Mel Tillis

Chart Toppers Back in the Day

From Ayn Owens:


chart toppers today in 1968 Hey Jude - The Beatles
Love Child - Diana Ross & The Supremes
Abraham, Martin and John - Dion
Stand By Your Man - Tammy Wynette

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Canada geese.  November 29, 2014.

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Lee's Summit Road, Independence, MO.  Looking north.  November 29, 2014.

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Thanksgiving in Vietnam - 1966 - YouTube

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Thanksgiving in Vietnam - 1966 - YouTube

Reel America Preview: "The Wise Years Wasted" - 1965 - YouTube

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Reel America Preview: "The Wise Years Wasted" - 1965 - YouTube

Sanctuary Along the Kuiseb River

From NASA's Earth Observatory:




The ephemeral waters crossing the parched landscape of Namibia nurture a riparian ecosystem and a native people. Read more at
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84805

Winter Preparedness

From U.S. Army:




Be Winter Ready.

As winter approaches, don't forget to update your vehicle emergency kit. Suggested items include: booster cables, sand/kitty litter for traction, blanket(s), matches, water, high protein/low sodium snacks, flashlight with batteries, reflective vest, flares, scraper, and a shovel.

Vehicle operators of the Minnesota Army National Guard train on the M937A2 Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV) in preparation for winter storm response operations within their community. 

U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Anthony Housey

Cloud Inversion

From U.S. Department of the Interior:




Check out this amazing image of a total cloud inversion at the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona!

This rare meteorological event occurred one year ago today -- and it's something park rangers wait years to see. A sea of clouds filled the canyon because of a temperature inversion, which happens when the air near the ground is cooler than the air above it. A high-pressure system brought low temperatures, clear skies and calm winds to the Grand Canyon.

Photo by Erin Huggins, National Park Service.
 — atGrand Canyon National Park.

State Liquor Stores

From Ayn Owens:


today in 1933 1st state liquor stores authorized (Pennsylvania).

The Grammy Awards

Facebook post from Ayn Owens:


The Grammy Awards were shown on network television for the first time on this night in 1959. (It was actually the second year of the Grammy Awards.)
Mack the Knife won Record of the Year and Bobby Darin, who belted it out, was Best New Artist of the Year. Frank Sinatra won Album of the Year for Come Dance with Me. Jimmy Driftwood penned the Song of the Year: The Battle of New Orleans, which also won Country and Western Performance of the Year honors for Johnny Horton.
The Best Folk Performance of the Year went to The Kingston Trio for their ...at Large album. The Best Performance by a Top 40 Artist was Nat King Cole’s Midnight Flyer and the Grammy for Best Comedy Performance, Musical went to Homer & Jethro for their immortal The Battle of Kookamonga.
The great Duke Ellington received the 1959 Grammy for Best Performance by a Dance Band this night for his Anatomy of a Murder movie sound track. Ellington won another Grammy and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Science’s Lifetime Achievement Award six years later.
It was only appropriate that the Grammy Awards would be shown annually on television since the ‘new medium’ of TV would supply much-nominated music over the years and would also spotlight performers. Little did the Academy know what it started ... and that someday, it would award Grammys for music videos as seen on MTV.

Alcatraz Gathering

From National Park Service:




Every year, Alcatraz Island hosts an Indigenous People's Sunrise Gathering on the morning of Thanksgiving to commemorate the occupation by the "Indians of All Tribes" from 1969 to 1971#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

Drought Persists in the American Southwest

From NASA's Earth Observatory:




More than 64 million people are directly affected by drought in the Southwest and Southern Plains, and far more are indirectly affected because of the vast number of farms, orchards, and ranches that supply the rest of the United States. Read more at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=84801&src=fb

Thanksgiving Sunset

From NASA's Earth Observatory:




In case you missed it, check out the spectacular Thanksgiving sunset that NASA astronaut Terry Virts tweeted from the International Space Station yesterday. The image presents an edge-on, or limb view, of the Earth’s atmosphere as seen from orbit. Above the darkened surface of the Earth, a brilliant sequence of colors roughly denotes several layers of the atmosphere. Deep oranges and yellows appear in the troposphere, which extends from the Earth’s surface to 6–20 km high. This layer contains over 80 percent of the mass of the atmosphere and almost all of the water vapor, clouds, and precipitation. The white line above the clouds marks the lower stratosphere; this atmospheric layer generally has few or no clouds, and it extends up to approximately 50 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. Above the stratosphere, blue layers likely mark the transition between the middle and upper atmosphere as it gradually fades into the blackness of outer space. 

Friday, November 28, 2014

Big Muddy

From USFWS National Wildlife Refuge System:




Did you know Big Muddy National Fish & Wildlife Refuge (http://go.usa.gov/fc7e) derives its name from the Missouri River? The nation’s longest river is called the Big Muddy because of its tremendous sediment load. Channelization for navigation, irrigation and flood control has lessened that load, but an old saying about the Missouri was, “It’s too thick to drink and too thin to plow.” More about the refuge: http://go.usa.gov/fcAH

Grand Teton National Park

From U.S. Department of the Interior:




A stunning sunset over Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Christina Adele Warburg took this photo of Mount Moran and Jackson Lake from the park's Colter Bay District a few weeks ago after a recent snow. "I had to snowshoe to the edge of the lake for the sunset. The effort was definitely worth the reward," says Christina.

Photo courtesy of Christina Adele Warburg.
 — atGrand Teton National Park.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park

From U.S. Department of the Interior:




Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio is gorgeous this time of year -- and it's only a short distance from the urban areas of Cleveland and Akron! The winding Cuyahoga River gives way to deep forests, rolling hills and open farmlands. Beaver Marsh (pictured here) is a favorite location for watching wetland birds and other wildlife.

Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Gibson.
 — at Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

November 28, 1966


Today in 1966 - “Oh-bo-de-o-do...” The New Vaudeville Band received a gold record for Winchester Cathedral this day.

November 28, 1974


Today in 1974 - John Lennon appeared in concert for the last time -- at NYC’s Madison Square Garden. Lennon joined Elton John to sing Whatever Gets You Through the Night as well as I Saw Her Standing There.

November 28, 1981


Today in 1981 - Alabama football coach Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant won his 315th victory to become college football’s all-time career victory leader. Bryant surpassed Amos Alonzo Stagg with the win. (This record was broken four years later, in October 1985, by Grambling head coach Eddie Robinson.)
 — with Marcia Nelsen.

November 28, 1984


Today in 1984 - Leaving Chicago behind, Phil Donahue headed to New York for his daily talk show that reached an estimated 7 million people each day. To that time, Phil and actress-wife Marlo Thomas had commuted for four years to be together in matrimony.

November 28 in History

Today in 1996 - The U.S. space shuttle Columbia had a screw loose. A stuck hatch (later blamed on that loose screw) prevented astronauts Tammy Jernigan and Tom Jones from taking a spacewalk.

West Rim, Grand Canyon




Grand Canyon's West Rim, AZ. (Sky-Walk.)  Photo courtesy of Glen Boulier.

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Turpentine Bush, Ericameria laricifolia.  November 9, 2014.

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Buckhorn Cholla, Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa.  November 9, 2014.

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Creosote Bush, Larrea divaricata.  November 9, 2014.

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Trixis, Trixis californica.  November 9, 2014.

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