PLAY BALL

It's going to be one of those flotsam and jetsam nights folks. This war can get so depressing sometimes. I think we could all use a night off....

Roger, the bartender at City, is one of the few people in this town that I can talk to about politics. I routinely print out the more obscure stories I run across during the week for him. I swung by to deliver his ration of political outrage tonight and he had a cheering tale to tell about unexpected opportunity. It seems that out of the blue, his friend was offered an interview with the NY Mets as assistant general manager. This just at the time he was looking for a job in NY and he's a Mets Fan.

Now I've been a Mets fan since the day they joined the league. They have not been doing well the last couple of seasons. I like to think a little of that hometown luck will run off on the team. I would love to see them win a subway series next year. Of course if they played the Red Sox, and don't scoff - they could, I'd have a conflict. I love an underdog and that team could certainly use some cheering up. Especially after the debacle in 87. Or was that 88?

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HOLY MOTHER OF WI-FI!

I remember watching Hedy Lamarr movies as kid. As I recall, she was quite a siren even though she played intelligent women. I was suprised to learn she invented a technology. From the article:

A beautiful mind: how hollywood starlet Hedy Lamarr
invented spread spectrum technology - and transformed the wireless world.

In WWII Hollywood, most actresses were content selling war bonds and rallying troops. But one young glamour queen got a patent for radio technology intended to help Americans torpedo German ships - and ended up changing the world

Indeed, it was that 1942 invention - patent number 2,292,387 - that Lamarr would consider her crowning achievement. Identified simply as a "Secret Communications System," Lamarr's idea helped change the world, even if the world didn't recognize it for nearly sixty years.

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PLAY ON WORDS

I picked up this little entertaining time-waster from the GNN forums. The guerrillas were having a jolly time entering the names of the ringmasters of our current political circus. My own name was not enlightening but many others reported uncanny results when they entered theirs. If you like word games, try the Anagram Scrambler

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IT'S IN THE STARS

If astrology interests you, I got this link courtesy of Bambi, a great astrologist in her own right, while cruising the GNN threads a while back. I did the free chart and found the reading to be pretty much on target. If you want to know where your planets are, check out The Chart Builder at alabe.com.

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OH YES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS

Last word tonight goes to my pal Elmer Elevator. He wrote this a very funny LTE in response to this article about some Canadian MP's sneaky backroom dealing with our own deputy Drug Czar in an attempt to overturn a marijuana bill.


Re "MP group sought U.S. help to derail pot bill" (19 August), may I offer Jimmy Durante's valuable advice to the cabal of Liberal MPs who left behind a transcript of their secret meeting to enlist U.S. government help with their Parliament scheme:

"Say it wit' flowers
"Say it wit' mink
"But whatever ya do
"Don't say it wit' ink!
"-a-dinka-dee, a-dinka-doo ..."

And good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are. Thanks for reminding me of him Elmer. I used to love Durante.

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