Fang

Did I forget to mention Fang? I didn't stick around for feeding time but here is Zach holding his yard long corn snake.

Coca-Cola Celebrates Ramadan

Company observes Muslim holiday with star, crescent design on cans to celebrate Ramadan-a most religious time in the Muslim calendar.

We are here in NJ waiting to find out whether or not the crescent moon has been sighted in Mecca. If so, Omar starts his Holy Month at sunset. If not, it starts tomorrow night after we leave. I asked Omar what he needs to do at sunset if the crescent has been sighted. He said the custom is to sacrifice an in-law. (that's a joke-I laughed for half an hour) Actually, he will start his fasting during daylight and pray a lot. It lasts a lunar month. Restaurants are closed until sunset in most Muslim countries during this month...I wouldn't mind that!!!!

Day 2 in NJ

Yonkers' Empire City Racetrack and Casino above and Deb's College campus below.
Rockland Community College is right across the NY border about half an hour from
Deb's house. It is in a beautiful area. Her building is the white one on right. It is a SUNY campus being part of the State University of NY.

Kathy and Bonnie in NJ

Day 1 in Rutherford. Bubba Bouabidi is second from right at football practice above. Below, in Deb's house-Danielle on left, Deb and blurry monkey boy who wouldn't stand still.

ET at the Wheel

When Steve told me to take a look at this truck, he saw a putrid color (and big pipes). I saw an ET at the wheel. Someone notify the DOT...

Click on the image to enlarge.

Clintons at the Convention

One of my favorite people of commentary is Jack Cafferty of CNN.

Jack Cafferty is the author of the best-seller "It's Getting Ugly Out There: The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America." He provides commentary on CNN's "The Situation Room" daily from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. You can also visit Jack's Cafferty File blog.

I found this commentary to be humorous and realistic. Bill's making a fool out of himself and wants to talk more about himself then his Party. The Hillary people have always made me gag.

Some of Hillary Clinton's supporters had threatened to disrupt the proceedings if their candidate wasn't shown the proper amount of respect. They're called PUMAs, an acronym for "Party Unity My Ass." They appear to be a humorless lot who cannot come to terms with the fact that the country didn't want Hillary Clinton to be president. So they have been throwing a hissy fit ever since the primaries ended. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton owes some big bucks, as in tens of millions of dollars. So if you're at the convention this week and you see her out in front of the hall selling pencils, buy one. She needs the money.

Tonight and tomorrow nights Clinton speeches should be interesting...hopefully, the PUMAs aren't in Denver. Cafferty's full commentary (and it's funny) can be found at:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/25/cafferty.clintons/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Democratic Convention Conspiracy

Hot off the conspiracy press...Note the similarity of the logos of the Obama campaign (above) and Pepsi (below). It is being said that Pepsi not only runs the Obama campaign itself but is also in charge of the entire Democratic Party...is it any coincidence that the Dem. National Convention is at the Pepsi Center in Denver??? I'm waiting for the Obama slogan to change to "the choice of a New Generation."

Electoral Votes (EV) Gadget

Well, the political season nears and the Kells must stay up-to-date. Replacing the Olympic Medals Tracker is a new little device that I just found on a legitimate website. The numbers below represent today's EV per category and may possibly change as 'exactly tied' states untie. So, forget the polls that you see coming out daily for remember the election for President is done on EV basis and not popular vote.

270 votes needed to win.

Legend for the electoral votes gadget:

Strong Dem (134) solid dark blue
Weak Dem (121) solid light blue
Barely Dem (9) outlined in blue
Exactly tied (22) white
Barely GOP (76) outlined in red
Weak GOP (55) solid light red
Strong GOP (121) solid dark red

The gadget also shows House and Senate numbers.
www.electoral-vote.com

The Vice Presidents

I failed miserably on this quiz and for that matter am ashamed of my intent interest in the upcoming election VP 'competition.' Hillary needn't worry as I would have forgotten about her in 8 years anyhow...
See how you do (spelling counts):
http://www.mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?q=353

NCAA Football Gadget

With the Olympics coming to a close, I have added another gadget for you sports fans. This gadget has the AP, USA today, and BCS rankings for college football. If you football fans would rather have the scoreboard posted, I will change once the season starts which I think is pretty soon....I'm not a fan but think I saw mom getting out her Hawkeye sweatshirt....don't know why....don't see them on this gadget which you can pull down to see all 25. You can also click on a mascot and go to their 'stats page.' I will probably move it down on the sidebar but wanted to bring it on board in the #2 position.

Sleep deprived due to Olympics

The Internet is full of comparisons between Spitz and Phelps, the 70s vs. today, facial hair vs. body shaving, etc. Here are a couple of my favorites:
Ahhh the Olympics and the '70's... when real men swam with arm-pit hair; when real women from the Soviet Bloc countries swam with arm-pit hair; when the real women with arm-pit hair from East Germany were really men...



Sure Phelps will earn an easy $10 million. But unlike Mark Spitz he'll never know the joy of a guest appearance on "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour." And really, can you put a price tag on that?
http://gawker.com/5038801/so-why-cant-michael-phelps-get-his-gold-medals-on-gold-chains

You've got to be kidding, another hoax?

"Sasquatch detective" Steve Kulls was sent to a secret location to examine the frozen Bigfoot body:

In a long statement on SearchingforBigfoot.com, Kulls reveals what he found early Sunday morning Eastern time as the body thawed out.
"I extracted some [hair] from the alleged corpse and examined it and had some concerns," Kulls writes. "We burned said sample and said hair sample melted into a ball uncharacteristic of hair."
Kulls called Biscardi in California, who told him to heat the body to speed up thawing.
"Within one hour we were able to see the partially exposed head," Kulls continues. "I was able to feel that it seemed mostly firm, but unusually hollow in one small section. This was yet another ominous sign."
Then came the clincher.
"Within the next hour of thaw, a break appeared up near the feet area. ... I observed the foot which looked unnatural, reached in and confirmed it was a rubber foot."

A rubber foot???? This is hilarious!!

Bigfoot Body Found

BIGFOOT BODY FOUND - EVIDENCE AND DNA DETAILS TO BE PRESENTED AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 15th FROM 12 N00N TO 1:00PM AT THE CABANA HOTEL-PALO ALTO IN PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA

Could the thawed body of a bigfoot on the left be the remains of the creature we have grown to love since the famous picture on the right surfaced out of the great Northwest back in '67? We will soon find out. This is being reported on CNN but they say they will not be covering the press conference. This group will be: http://www.searchingforbigfoot.com/

Update: CNN did cover because it was the most clicked on story on their website. They cut away after 10 minutes, however, to air a story about a talking chimp...'W'...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY on the 15th KATHY

Have a nice birthday Friday. Don't celebrate too much.

At the ballpark

Cubs fans for life....Dylan and Cale Hendricks

Hendricks Family

At the Zoo for Cale's bday.
Emily

Injury at the Olympics

One more reason to not lift weights...if your elbow goes out of joint while supporting a bar with 325 pounds on it -

your arm tends to bend at a weird angle as illustrated by this Olympic weightlifter....OUCH!

Deb's 46th

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEB. YOU HAVEN'T CHANGED A BIT. LOTS OF LOVE

Photos from Millie's 95th birthday

Millie Uhlman’s (Lois’s mother) 95^th birthday party held at Stan & Lois’ house in Zephyrhills, Florida on August 9.

About 20 friends attended the festivities – lots of fond memories! Ah, to be 95 years young!

Two photos attached – one of Stan, Lois, Lori, Cindy & Millie. 2^nd photo is of Millie (in center) with two of her lady friends who live in the retirement park – both in their 90’s as well.

 

Enjoy!

 

LORI

 

 

Olympic Medalist Counts

I have temporarily added the NBC Olympic Medal Count widget to the top of the sidebar for those of you keeping track. There was no way I could adjust the width so you have to do the math yourself to figure the totals but you can see the top 3 medalists for the top ranking countries.

Note: you can now view entire count thanks to www.blogger.com

My First Olympic Memory

Vasily Alexeev in 1972 won the gold by lifting a whole bunch more (35kg) than the silver medalist...this is my first Olympic memory. What's yours?

Guess Who?

GUESS WHO THIS CUTIE IS ?

Grandkids-1971

Suppose this was taken at the same time as the other one. Maybe spring of 1971? Norm must be
holding Cindy? Think that is my dad in the background of the other picture. Maybe Lois or Betty
can help answer this.????

Anyone you know?

Who has changed the most? Who has changed the least?

Warning of Solar Superstorm

A solar superstorm (The October 15 issue of Scientific American noted that ‘‘a connection between the northern lights and forces of electricity and magnetism is now fully established.” ) is pending and my be as bad as the one of 1859:

As night was falling across the Americas on Sunday, August 28, 1859, the phantom shapes of the auroras could already be seen overhead. From Maine to the tip of Florida, vivid curtains of light took the skies. Startled Cubans saw the auroras directly overhead; ships’ logs near the equator described crimson lights reaching halfway to the zenith. Many people thought their cities had caught fire. Scientific instruments around the world, patiently recording minute changes in Earth’s magnetism, suddenly shot off scale, and spurious electric currents surged into the world’s telegraph systems. In Baltimore telegraph operators labored from 8 p.m. until 10 a.m. the next day to transmit a mere 400-word press report. The impact of the 1859 storm was muted only by the infancy of our technological civilization at that time. Were it to happen today, it could severely damage satellites, disable radio communications and cause continent-wide electrical blackouts that would require weeks or longer to recover from. Although a storm of that magnitude is a comfortably rare once-in-500-years event, those with half its intensity hit every 50 years or so. The last one, which occurred on November 13, 1960, led to worldwide geomagnetic disturbances and radio outages. If we make no preparations, by some calculations the direct and indirect costs of another superstorm could equal that of a major hurricane or earthquake.

Learn more at: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=bracing-for-a-solar-superstorm

www.spaceweather.com is a wonderful source for sunspot activity which is what causes the northern lights and thus solar storm activity.

Ironically, society’s increasing vulnerability to solar storms has coincided with decreasing public awareness. We recently surveyed newspaper coverage of space weather events since the 1840s and discovered that a significant change occurred around 1950. Before this time, magnetic storms, solar flares and their effects often received lavish, front-page stories in newspapers. The Boston Globe carried a two-inch headline “U.S. Hit by Magnetic Storm” on March 24, 1940. Since 1950, though, such stories have been buried on inside pages.

Hurricane Tracking Gadget

For those of you in Hurricane Alley or just take an interest in megastorms, I have brought on board a Hurricane Tracking gadget which is on the sidebar. Now, I'm all set for the season. If you click on it, a bigger map appears with details and tracking forecasts, etc. You can also observe from the cloud map gadget in the sidebar.

Families together in SW Ohio

Mark’s parents (Koei & Theresa) and Stan, Lois and Millie (Lois’ mother) gather together for a photo when they visited Mark and Lori in Centerville, OH last fall (October 2007).

 

 

Denali - chillin' inside on a warm SW Ohio afternoon

Lori & Mark’s Brittany Spaniel , “Denali” – Denali was named after Mt. McKinley in Alaska.

Kells at Pizza Hut - October 2007

Enjoying a meal at Kathy’s Diner (I mean the Pizza Hut) in ole GC – October 2007.

The Return of Schlitz

Schlitz makes nostalgic comeback
By The Associated Press

THE BEER: Schlitz, known as "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous" was once the world's best-selling brew. But after recipe changes and snafus -- like floaters in the beer -- it fell from the top slot and the old formula was gone by the 1970s.

THE RETURN: Pabst recreated the old formula using notes and interviews with former brewmasters. The beer is now back in Milwaukee, reminding customers of the days when the city was the U.S. beer capital. It is selling well but is available in just a few cities.

Afros, bell-bottoms, polyester, platforms...Schlitz was the only thing left from the seventies that could be brought back. Can't wait for the Super Bowl commercial..."this ain't no Belgian beer"

CB Lingo Class

For those of you not from a corn producing state, this is an up close view of a corn ethanol plant. I spent today being the seatcover (CB lingo for passenger) in a rig (CB lingo for semi truck) hauling corn northbound to the Pine Lake Processing Plant. At least we weren't hauling four legged go-go dancers (CB lingo for pigs) and didn't have to travel through any antler alleys (CB lingo for deer crossings). I will not get into the economic consequences of the ethanol boom on the global economy at this point but I would suggest buying a few cows and a pasture if you like to eat beef and drink milk without taking out a small loan. You should also hire a scientist to develop a food substitute to feed your herd cause farmers aren't stupid enough to keep their corn to feed cattle when they can make a million selling it to corn ethanol plants until, of course, supply and demand allows them to make a million on cattle sales. Note: I did not use the CB term 'good buddy' cause it no longer just means a fellow truck driver. Out on today's highways, it refers to a gay truck driver and that's not really how you want to refer to someone coming at you 75 miles an hour in an 80,000 pound craft unless you are a good buddy yourself. Until my next CB lingo class...over and out...

Stinky Gambler

ATLANTIC CITY — Yes, Michael Wax stank. He's the first to admit it. The 440-pound New York City man said he was playing poker in an Atlantic City casino for 17 hours Tuesday and didn't have time to clean up. He understands why grossed-out gamblers complained about his body odor, but said he didn't deserve stinky treatment from the casino that asked him to leave.

Oh no!! Another record (gambling 17 straight hours) mom and Stan will have to beat...

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/07/30/1707733-stinky-gambler-fuming-over-nj-casino-ejection