Animals on the 'net

Pets give us so much. Love, companionship, fun websites. Yes, a quick internet search turns up some interesting sites, like
my cat hates you, cats that look like Hitler, even a cat site where people place various items on their felines (this must make the cats mad...click here. And it's not just cats... did you know Bupkes and Diddley Squat, hampsters, are running for President? It's right here. Maybe reptiles are your thing? There a whole store dedicated to frogs. Have fun checking out the sites, but remember, your pet is still the cutest/smartest/most loveable in the world!

Monopoly keeps up with the times

Another part of my childhood is going away. Parker Brothers is replacing the colorful money in their Monopoly game with a fake debit card reader. You can read about it here. Of course, the game has to keep up with the times. I am a little worried about other changes they could make however. "You're caught cooking the books, go directly to jail, do not pass go." "You take away your employee's retirement and health benefits, collect $1 million." "Your company contributes to all the right politicians, do whatever you want!" And I'm really worried what new crimes and methods of murder they may come up with for Clue!

Americans getting out of Lebanon

I read today that Americans who are in Lebanon are going to be evacuated. With no end to the violence in sight, of course this makes sense. There are some 25,000 American citizens there now. What is interesting is that the US was initially going to charge them the cost of the plane ticket, around $150. This seems fair. With stuff blowing up everywhere, this isn't the best time to search out a good deal on Expedia. Hey, people who got towed from downtown Springfield paid around $150 to get their cars back, I think getting out of a life-threatening situation would be worth at least the same amount. However, after numerous complaints, the charges will be dropped. I hope everyone gets out safely. It's a chaotic situation and frustrating for those waiting to get out, but it help is on the way.

But does he have the skills?

I think I've heard of everything now. A man is suing Michael Jordan because he looks like him. Allen Heckard of Portland says he's mistaken for the former basketball great almost daily. He's also suing Nike's Phil Knight for helping make Jordan famous. Heckard is about 6 inches shorter than Jordan. He claims he's a pretty good hoops player. It would be fun at first being mistaken for a celebrity, but it probably is a bit of a nuisance after a while. But is it Jordan's fault they look kinda similar? Is it worth $800 million (the amount he's asking for.) Forget the lawsuit, how about charging for autographs or pictures? Celebrity look-alikes sometimes make appearances. I can see it now, Gus Macker basketball, come play with a guy who looks like Mike!

Celebrating Veggies

This weekend the Chatham Jaycees celebrate the 33rd annual Sweetcorn Festival. You don't want to miss the bands, the cowchip throw and of course, all the delicious sweet corn. A quick internet search has revealed that we aren't the only community that celebrates a tasty locally-grown veggie. There's the East Texas Yamboree (yam, I get it) that has been featured on Food Network and the Fort Fairfield Maine Potato Festival which includes mashed potato wrestling! Potato lovers may also enjoy Tater Day in Benton, Kentucky. Lentils get their due with the National Lentil Festival in Pullman, Washington in August. There's a Bean Soup Festival in Mc Clure, Pennsylvania, which would go well with the Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee. There are festivals celebrating spinach (Lenexa, Kansas,) asparagus (Shelby, Michigan) and rutabagas (Cumberland, Wisconsin.) And if I'm ever in Mountain View Arkansas in October, I'll be sure to visit the Bean Fest and Championship Outhouse Races. Bon Appetit!

You can't take it with you

That's the lesson in the Enron fiasco. Ken Lay, chairman of the one-time energy company, died yesterday at his home. He probably would have died in prison otherwise. He was awaiting sentencing on fraud and conspiracy charges. Although he maintained his innocence during the trial, does it seem suspicious to you that he sold much of his Enron stock as the collapse was beginning, even while telling stockholders and employees that all was well? One could argue that government deregulation of the energy companies set the table for this mess. In any event, since he died before exhausting his appeals, the conviction may be abated. A lot of people's retirement savings were lost when Enron collapsed and now one of the men who profited from the fraud is dead and guess what, you can't take it with you.