Minnesota Sports-o-rama But No Obama

The Presidents' Olympic bid didn't turn out like he wanted. Chicagoans are long faced but Brazialians are ecstatic. Brazil is enjoying a thriving economy while the USA is putting everything on the charge card. I don't feel bad about letting them have the games. Haven't host cities spent billions to get ready for the Olympics? Who has that in their budget in this country.

Local TV sportscasters are drooling about this weekend in local sports. They don't seem to be sad because of the lost Olympics. Supposedly if Chicago had gotten the nod, the soccer games would have been played here. Bit of a stretch, isn't it? Chicago is 450 miles away.

Here is what is going on in the metro in sports this weekend:
The U of MN Golden Gophers are playing the Wisconsin Badgers in our new "Bank" stadium.
We are still celebrating the new on campus TCF gorgeous stadium. Football returned to the Big Ten U campus after 28 years. Wisconsin is our arch rival.
The MN Wild hockey team begin the season. We have avid hockey fans and a great downtown arena in St. Paul.
The Twins are playing their last game. They won yesterday and the #1 Detroit Tigers lost leaving the Twins one game out from division championship. They could do this. This is the last year they are playing at the Metrodome and it would be a grand way to leave. They have won two World Series in that stadium and a third would be a great closer. It could happen.

Playing a World Series might make up for the new corporate name. Since the Vikings are the last tennants in the dome, they were allowed to sell naming rights for several million dollars. It is now called "Mall of America Field @ Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome". It is miles from the Mall of America which incidentally is built on the site of our old baseball stadium. Locally the Mall of America goes by the acronym MOA so we can call it the MOA @ HHH.

We won't have to call it MOA @ HHH for long. The Vikings Corp. announced they aren't renewing their contract and threaten to leave town if they don't get their new stadium. They feel left out. The Gophers and Twins each got new venues and the Vikes didn't. They have wanted a bigger, better stadium than this old '81 model for years. The team usually self-destructs at the end of the season and there is no mood in Minnesota to give it to them. We are in deep doodoo financially in this state and don't have an extra $800,000,000.00.
This year management must feel frisky with Brett Favre at the helm. While everyone else is rooting for him to continue to do well, I have mixed feelings. I think I will cheer him on Monday night when the Vikings play Green Bay. That old rivalry will be heightened now that we have their boy wonder in purple. After that I don't care if the Vikings lose the last few games. That Gopher football team gives us a nice alternative.

More Twins

Not toddler twins, twin towers this time. Picture is the Petronas Twin Towers in Kaula Lampur in Malaysia. My nephew Peter is traveling on business and staying there. When news of the earthquakes in that part of the world hit, I consulted a map. Reassuring word from him today that they didn't feel any shock waves where he is. My sister will breath easier when he is home again. Keep him in your prayers for safe travel and a safe stay.

Roman Is Innocent !

I don't care how it looks. Yes, he is neked and cavorting with a young female, but our little Roman is innocent.

Daughter Mary posted this picture and story on the baby blog today. She had Roman in the bath and twin sister Zoe just couldn't wait to get in herself. She leaned over and fell in fully clothed.

Tsunami

Tsunami, a word that wasn't in most of our lexicons a decade ago, was in the news again yesterday. Most of us became familiar with the disastrous effects of tsunamis when the big one hit in the Pacific in 2004 killing over 150,000 people. There was another that struck Myanmar more recently but was not as large. The (corrupt, repressive) government of Myanmar refused outside help for it's people.

Yesterday's wall of water struck American Samoa. American Samoa? I realized my ignorance. Why is it called American Samoa. I don't know much about "American" Samoa or even Samoa. There are probably more of my countrymen who think of Girl Scout cookies when they hear the word Samoa and have no idea why there is also an American Samoa. Time to Google.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_American_Samoa

American Samoa votes for their government and rules themselves but under the protectorate of the US. Their high courts decisions come under our Supreme Court. Perhaps this is similar to the relationship we had to the Philippine Islands. I need to do a little more research.

Flying Ants

A couple days ago in late afternoon I noticed swarms of insects flying around our big oak tree. I thought they were mosquitos at first but they weren't. This made me a bit nervous. Did we have some strange infestation of critters in our tree? There were a lot of winged creatures out there highlighted by a setting sun.

We had our small church group here for pot luck later that day and I mentioned this phenomenon. Someone quickly said I had witnessed flying ants. When a colony is overcrowded ants fly out to form new colonies.

http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/Pests/flyant.htm

Flying ants in Minnesota? After a summer of Tiger Beetles that I mistook for Emerald Ash Borers and picking Japanese Beetles off my new scrubs and rose bushes I wasn't thrilled to have flying ants.

I have been reading a series of fictional books about "The #1 Ladies Detective Agency" set in Botswana. These people consider flying ants a delicacy and eat them. We didn't do that. We just hope we don't have a lot more ants around our deck next year and the only "flying ants" I want to see again are Aunt Margaret, Aunt Diane and Aunt Barbara.

Camping Out

Libya's leader, Muammar Gaddafi is in New York for the opening of the UN session. He has never been a popular figure in the US and his recent behavior giving a hero's welcome to the Lockerbie bomber has made him persona non grata in America. I don't care if you spell his name Gaddafi, Khadafi, or Qaddafi, he is not welcome. Stay home. We have not forgotten how you harbored the bomber terrorists and then welcomed home the one the Scots foolishly gave an early release.

It seems Gaddafi provides his own accomodations when he travels. He sends an advance crew with his tent. A tent...Bedoin style housing. He shuns modern hotels because he hates elevators. Maybe Motel 6 isn't to his liking. He could rent a couple of rooms in a Motel 6 and only have to climb one flight of stairs at the most. The room would come with tiny soap, little shampoos and conditioners and AC & color TV. It probably has free phone service and a complimentary cup of coffee in the lobby. Maybe a tent is an upgrade from a Motel 6.

The Libyans with the tent have tried unsuccessfully to pitch Muammar's tent in Central Park in NYC, in New Jersey and in "The Donald's" backyard. Maybe "The Donald" wanted to do business with Gaddafi. Can't you see them sitting around a campfire toasting marshmallows and talking real estate development? Oh, well. Maybe Trump could convince him to live indoors or sell him a unit in Trump Towers.

Gaddafi is one freaky, scary looking individual. I don't think he would be welcome in our national park campgrounds or state parks. Maybe he should stay incognito and buy an RV. He might be able to sneak into a Walmart parking lot. Better not hang his bedoin robes out to dry. Walmart sells guns and ammo and a lot of Americans wouldn't be happy find out he was camping out there either. Go home. We have not forgotten Pan Am and the Lockerbie bombings.

Birthday Kids

Over the weekend our oldest grandson turned 17 and the youngest, the twins, celebrated their 1st birthday. The little ones each had their own cake and had a good time with it. Roman figured out what to do quickly while the more demure Zoe needed a little coaxing and a taste to get into it. They haven't been given sweets and this was a new experience. Seventeen yr. old Zach has a different approach to eating his birthday cake.