Scotch on the Rocks --- since 1909!

The ill-fated 1907-1909 Shackleford Expedition to the South Pole ran short of supplies about 100 miles short of its goal; as winter ice formed, they sailed away, leaving behind many supplies, including five crates of some pretty good scotch.

The crates, buried under the Shackleford outpost hut floorboards, have been recovered by the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust team, which is restoring the Shackleford site for posterity. Trust team leader Al Fastier said that, given some luck, some of the bottles may be safely extracted. Richard Paterson, master blender at Whyte and Mackay, whose company supplied the whiskey, described the find as 'a gift from the heavens for whiskey lovers.'


So what happens now? Some very careful digging, most probably. And given we are now living in the insane 21st century, we can probably look forward to a few bottles being sold at auction to an AIG executive as part of his 2010 bonus!

Prepping for Valentine's Day

The NECCO company makes all those little candy hearts. The New England Candy Company, based in Massachusetts, is the oldest candy company in the United States (since 1847).
Believe it or not, the slogans change slightly from year-to-year; recent themes have been animals, the environment, and weather.

NECCO produces about 100,000 pounds of the candy hearts DAILY in order to meet the Valentine demand, when about 8 billion hearts are sold in six weeks.

What's the all-time favorite slogan?


Be Mine

Here are the most common slogans in a randomly chosen, 18-ounce bag of this year's Valentine�s Day Conversation Hearts:

Soul Mate; U Go Girl; Got Love?; XOXO; You Rule; Ask Me; Just One; My Cutie; Don�t Tell; Be Mine; I 'heart' You; My Girl; UR Mine; Yes; Dare Ya; First Kiss; Hello; Get Real; Goodbye

We have to start working the numbers

A multi-million-dollar yacht recently purchased by an Indian actor


A couple of weeks ago the actor George Clooney organized a telethon for Haitian relief, which raised about $60 million. Clooney himself gave a million, which is laudable. But what about the rest of the world's rich people? What are they doing to help in this monumental catastrophe?

Forbes magazine lists about 450 billionaires in the world. (You can look them up by clicking this article's headline) If each of them gave $10 million, that would be, let's see, that starts to look like more than a TRILLION dollars! Do ya think THAT might help Haiti?


Think about it. For the poorest billionare, $10 million is the equivalent of a $500 donation from someone who makes $50,000. For someone like Bill Gates, it's like less than a hundred bucks!


Isn't it time for our privileged classes to step up to the humanitarian plate?

Another Madison drive-by

When this senior citizen housing was initially proposed, just about everyone thought it was a bad idea. Now, as it nears its August completion date (and is looking pretty cool, by the way), just about everybody with gray hair wants in. So it goes. And speaking about 'so it goes,' how come that NAPA store remains empty? Does Madison have anybody working on commercial leases?

Ask...and Tell!

Sometimes a seemingly complicated issue can be resolved quite simply. Here is a partial list of countries that allow gays in the military:




Great Britain
Australia
France
Germany
Israel
Italy
Sweden
Denmark
Finland
Canada


And countries who don't?
Iran
North Korea
China
Russia
United States

Pink takes a fabulous turn

A standout performance, filled with grace, drama and tension. Destined to be a show biz classic, and remember, she's SINGING through the whole act! Check out her bio by clicking on the headline.