Eric on The Road

Journeys into the offbeat, off the beaten path, overlooked and forgotten - by Eric Model

Thursday, January 31, 2008

President Lincoln's summer home opens to public for first time (AP)

From The Associated Press through USA Today:

By Brett Zongker, Associated Press Writer
January 31, 2008

WASHINGTON — Until now, a summer cottage three miles from the White House where Abraham Lincoln paced the floors, contemplating the end of slavery, was largely unknown to the public.

Few locals knew it was still standing on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, and tourists searching for Lincoln sites in the nation's capital were far more likely to stop by the Lincoln Memorial or Ford's Theatre, where the 16th president was assassinated.

But in the late 1990s, the house was "rediscovered" by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and, in 2000, declared a national monument by President Clinton. Now, after a seven-year, $15 million restoration, President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldier's Home is set to open to the public for the first time — on President's Day, Feb. 18.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-01-31-lincoln-cottage_N.htm

The Ski Town That Aspen Used to Be Like (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By MELINDA MILLER
Published: January 27, 2008

Ellicottville, N.Y., 55 miles south of Buffalo is home to Holliday Valley ski resort and a world away from ski-town glamour.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/travel/27next.html

Kibbe at the Crossroads: A Lebanese Kitchen Story (NPR)

From NPR News:

by the Kitchen Sisters
Mornign Edition, January 31, 2008

Abe's BAR-B-Q, located at the crossroads of U.S. Highways 61 and 49, has been a part of the Mississippi Delta since 1924. Barbecue is the main item on the menu, but if you know to ask for them, they've got grape leaves in the back.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18547399

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Castle Dome Comeback (Arizona Highways)

From Arizona Highways Magazine:

The tale of a mining town too proud to die.

http://www.arizonahighways.com/static/index.cfm?action=group&contentID=486

New Podcast Posting: From The Original Amateur Hour to America Idol

Professor Robert Thompson, our expert on American Television and Popular Culture from Syracuse University joins us to look at Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour - truly the original American Idol program which debuted on television sixty hours ago this year.

This television pioneer was successor to Major Bowes’ Original Amateur Hour, a radio fixture dating back to 1934.

We talk about the similarities between the original and modern day program, the differences between them, and just what it all means about us as a society. We even touch upon the gong, a variation of the Vaudevillian hook that inspired Chuck Barris’ ”The Gong Show”.

http://conversationsontheroad.podbus.com/

Pollyanna: Spirit of Optimism Born Out of War (NPR)

From NPR News:

Weekend Edition Sunday
January 27, 2008

She was cute, she was cheerful, and she was famous for the creation of "the glad game." But today her name is synonymous with optimism — to a fault. Liane Hansen explores the roots of Pollyanna's story.

http://www.npr.org/templates/topics/topic.php?topicId=1021

New Podcast Posting: Gung Haggis Fat Choy - A Unique Scottish-Chinese Cultural Celebration

Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a cultural event originating from Vancouver, BC. The name Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a combination wordplay on Scottish and Chinese words: haggis is a traditional Scottish food and Gung Hay Fat Choy/Kung Hei Fat Choi s a traditional Cantonese greeting (in Mandarin it is pronounced Gong Xi Fa Cai) used during Chinese New Year. The event originated to mark the timely coincidence of the Scottish cultural celebration of Robert Burns Day (January 25) with the Chinese New Year, but has come to represent a celebration of combining cultures in untraditional ways.

In Vancouver, the event is characterized by music, poetry, and other performances around the city, culminating in a large banquet and party. This unique event has also inspired both a television performance special titled Gung Haggis Fat Choy, and the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Canadian Games, organized by the Recreation Department at Simon Fraser University.

In this Conversation on the Road podcast, we speak with event founder and spearhead Todd Wong. He tells us how it got started, and what it has come to represent around Vancouver and far beyond.

http://conversationsontheroad.podbus.com/

Passing: Margaret Truman Daniel

How ironic that we should hear of the passing of Margaret Truman on the same week that Caroline Kennedy was in the news.

In a different time and era, Margaret Truman had an impact on popular culture in America not too dissimilar from that of the Kennedy children in the early 1960's (The Truman period was in tehlate 1940's and early 50's).

But Margaret was more than a President's daughter. She achieved renown in her own right as a concert singer, radio and television host, and author of best-selling biographies and mysteries.

See this obituary in The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/nyregion/30daniel.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

New Podcast Posting: The Ice Hotel

Talk about energy efficient accommodations !

In this Conversation on The Road, we visit with Jaques Desbois of the Ice Hotel just outside Quebec City, the only accommodations of its kind in North America.

He describes how the idea got started, and he shares with us some of the novelties and unique environmental qualities of his hotel.

Truly a cool place !

http://conversationsontheroad.podbus.com/

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Mini Mardi Gras (Chicago Tribune)

From The Chicago Tribune through The Baltimore Sun:


By Angela Rozas
January 20, 2008

When a small Louisiana town puts on its own party, the chickens had better look out

http://www.baltimoresun.com/travel/bal-tr.mardi20jan20,0,2873155.story

From Cannoli to Chapati: A Baker's Culinary Journey (NPR)

From NPR News:

by Daniel Zwerdling
Weekend Edition Sunday, January 27, 2008

Greg Patent's tour of baking includes everything from Jewish matzoh to Irish soda bread. For his research, Patent visited more than five-dozen master home bakers around the U.S.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18352146

Cold Fish (CBS News)

From CBS News:

CBS Sunday Morning
January 27, 2008
By Bill Geist

In the frigid dead of winter, little shanty towns sprout defiantly on the frozen waterways of Maine. These shacks are filled with fishermen who brave the elements and spend hour after hour in pursuit of a fish so small it nearly fits on a cracker -- the smelt. Bill Geist visits Bowdoinham, Maine, a capital of ice smelt fishing, and goes fishing for an answer to the question: What's the big fuss over this very tiny fish?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/07/09/sunday/main13562.shtml

Where the Ice Bowl Meets the Ice (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By Greg Bishop
Published: January 26, 2008

OSHKOSH, Wis. — The home of the Otter Street Fishing Club is Jerry’s Bar, family owned since 1911, nestled in a neighborhood a few blocks from frozen Lake Winnebago. It's a place where
where two passions intersect, where ice fishermen love the Packers and football fans fish in frozen waters.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/sports/football/26fishing.html?em&ex=1201582800&en=085f91f9a03c239c&ei=5087%0A

Long-Forgotten Perfection by the Lake (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By Dave Anderson
January 27, 2008

Buried in a pro football graveyard is a forgotten unbeaten and untied team, the 1948 Cleveland Browns, who were led by quarterback Otto Graham and Coach Paul Brown.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/sports/football/index.html

Friday, January 25, 2008

Milwaukee statue will 'Bronze the Fonz' (AP)

From The Associated Press through USA Today:

By Carrie Antlfinger, Associated Press

A statue of Arthur "Fonzie Fonzarelli," the leather-jacketed biker from Happy Days, will be erected in the city where the TV sitcom was set, now that local groups have raised the $85,000 needed to do it, civic leaders said.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-01-25-fonz-statue_N.htm

The big 4-0-0 (Globe and Mail)

From The Globe and Mail:


RHÉAL SÉGUIN
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
January 4, 2008 at 12:02 PM EST

On the Canadian event of the year: Quebec City's 400th birthday

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080104.wquebec05/BNStory/specialTravel/home

Who you calling Fat Ass? (Globe and Mail)

From The Globe and Mail:


PATRICK WHITE
From Friday's Globe and Mail
January 25, 2008 at 8:42 AM EST

Forget the funny name. This runner's club will cover 72 kilometres in sub-zero temperatures just for beer, haggis and the hell of it

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080125.wlfatass25/BNStory/lifeMain/home

Last Fluent Speaker of Eyak Language Dies (NPR)

From NPR News:

All Things Considered
January 24, 2008

Chief Marie Smith Jones, the last fluent speaker of the Eyak language of the Alaskan Indians, died Monday at her home in Anchorage. She was 89. Chief Jones worked diligently to preserve her native tongue and other indigenous Alaskan languages.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18391658

The Simple Life, North of ‘the Volvo Line’ (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By Michelle Falkenstein
Published: January 25, 2008

Kingfield was incorporated in 1816 as part of what was then the Maine District of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It sits in western Maine’s Longfellow Mountain Range at the confluence of the Carrabassett and West Branch Carrabassett Rivers, north of what a Portland transplant, Donald A. Fowler Jr., calls “the Volvo line.”

“No one drives Volvos north of Portland,” said Mr. Fowler, a lawyer who practices in Kingfield and who skis Sugarloaf nearly every day in winter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/travel/escapes/25havens.html?em&ex=1201410000&en=b68f793f92432e89&ei=5087%0A

Vermont’s Forgotten Trails and Frozen Lifts of Winters Past (NY Times)

From the New York Times:

By Bill Pennington
Published: January 25, 2008

Left behind in the hazy flurries of history, lost ski areas are relics evocative of skiing’s unadorned past, of woolen mittens and a cozy lodge redolent of hot chocolate. They are reminders, too, of the birth of skiing in America, of its halcyon days, of its former abundance. Like abandoned playgrounds or a forsaken baseball stadium, they are powerful places where nostalgia pools, where you can stand near an idle trail and almost hear the laughter of children.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/travel/escapes/25ski.html

Fried Haggis Chinese Style at Gung Haggis Fat Choy

We normally don't promote individuial events here, but this one is unique. It's the
10th Annual Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner in Vancouver.

It 's a one of a kind multi-cultural celebration where "Chinese-Scots-Canadian deep fry Robert Burns and lettuce rap the haggis".

Bagpiper Joe McDonald, who has piped in the haggis for 8 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners beginning in 2001 will be there. So will event founder Todd Wong, who along with Joe will be featured on CBC Newsworld's 6pm tv broadcast to the nation on January 25th, when they will perform a short rap version Robbie Burns' immortal poem - Address to a Haggis. McDonald and his cross-cultural fusion band Brave Waves provide a sonic setting for many of the evening's singalongs.

"Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a dinner like no other. Jam-packed with cross-cultural references to the Scottish and Chinese pioneer history of British Columbia, it feeds its audience a cultural-fusion cuisine of deep-fried haggis wun tun and lettuce wrap in a 10 course Chinese banquet. It looks forward to the future of Chinese-Scottish-Canadian mixed DNA, and present-time Hapa-Canadian culture of mixed ethnicity.Vancouver poet Laureate George McWhirter has written a special poem for the event".

For more information, see http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy/.


BTW, check out our podcast on with Tood at http://www.conversationsontheroad.com

About the New York Rangers' Retiring Mood

Congratulations to Brian Leetch on the retirement of his Number 2 by the New York Rangers. In an era when all too many numbers are being celebrated,this is an honor most well deserved.

Congratulations as well to Adam Graves. He will be the next one to have his number (9) retired by the Rangers.

Once done, his number will join the likes of Rod Gilbert, Ed Giacomin, Mark Messier, and Mike Richter, as well as Brian Leetch.

At the same time, seeing Harry Howell at the Leetch ceremony got us to thinking. Howell, a Norris Trophy winner and former Ranger captain is as good as there ever was.
His number (3) should be there too.

And while we're at it, Ranger history did not start in the late 1960's. How about the likes of the Patricks, the Cook Brothers, Andy Bathgate, Charlie Raynor or even Gump Worsley.

If you're going to put Adam Graves in there (a good choice), well, there are many others spanning the decades who should be there too. Their fans are no longer around dishing over dollars to MSG for season tickets, but that should not diminish the accomplishments of these old time heroes nor prevent them from be honored appropriately.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Passing: Richard Knerr, Craze Creator from Hula Hoop to Superball (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

January 18, 2008

Richard Knerr, who gave the company he and a friend started in a garage the altogether appropriate name Wham-O, then marketed products that for two decades virtually defined frivolity in postwar America, from the Hula Hoop to the Frisbee to the SuperBall, died on Monday at his home in Arcadia, Calif. He was 82.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/business/18knerr.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=wham-o&st=nyt&oref=slogin

The Incredible Disappearing TV Theme Song (WNYC)

From WNYC:

Soundcheck
January 23, 2008

If you're a TV viewer of a certain age, you can probably sing a few lines from at least a dozen theme songs, from Gilligan's Island to The Brady Bunch. But as memorable as classic TV themes seem to be, few of today's programs open with one.

Eric Deggans, media critic for the St. Petersburg Times, says that while TV themes still exist, most are no longer as memorable as themes once were.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18340765

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

"Pioneers of Television" on PBS

Nearly 100 stars from TV's formative years bring their stories to PBS in the revealing 4-part documentary series Pioneers of Television.

http://www.pbs.org/pioneersoftelevision/

Monday, January 21, 2008

Antebellum Town a Record of Black Experience (NPR)

From NPR News:

by Kathy Lohr
All Things Considered, January 21, 2008

While many African-American communities in the South dissolved after the Civil War, the residents of Flat Rock, Ga., clung to the land of their ancestors. Today, the town is working to preserve its history as a rare, surviving example of the black experience.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18233281

Heard on the Radio: MLK Day in Atlanta

Listen to a Left Jab Radio talk with Issac Ferris, Jr. CEO of the King Center in Atlanta about MLK Day - how it has evolved, what it is today -especially at the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site in Atlanta.

http://www.leftjabradio.com/

Also see "Documenting Murals of King"from NPR News describing how for more than 30 years, Camilo Jose Vergara has photographed murals of Martin Luther King found in America's inner-city neighborhoods.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18229964

There's a "Listener Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr." from WYNC's "The Brian Lehrer Show"
For Martin Luther King Day, it’s their annual one-minute readings about any ethnic group other than one's own. It's a unique way to pay tribute to Dr. King with a selection of a poem, a novel--anything at all.

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/episodes/2008/01/21/segments/92031

Sunday, January 20, 2008

U.S. Cities in the Sixties (MSN)

From msn.com:

"Take a step back in history with these 12 photos of American cities that capture the essence of an era".

http://cityguides.msn.com/citylife/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=6021655&GT1=10786

What is Canada's First City ? (Globe and Mail)

From The Globe and Mail:

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Quebec. Big festivities are planned.

But this week surfaced a claim by the mayor of St. John's, Newfoundland (Andy Wells) that his city was the oldest in Canada, not Quebec City.

Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism Minister Clyde Jackman added that "St. John's has long been recognized by historians as the oldest city in Canada and we are proud of this historical designation." He noted that Europeans began to settle around the harbour of St. John's by 1583.

Also see "WHICH CAME FIRST?" complied by the Globe and Mail staff.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080118.wquebec18/BNStory/National/home

Passing: Suzanne Pleshette (AP)

From The Associated Press through the Globe and Mail:


BOB THOMAS
The Associated Press
January 20, 2008 at 8:18 AM EST

LOS ANGELES — Suzanne Pleshette, the husky-voiced star best known for her role as Bob Newhart's sardonic wife on television's long-running The Bob Newhart Show, has died at age 70.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080120.wobitpleshette0120/BNStory/Entertainment/home

People of Nunavut fight to save Inuktitut language (CanWest News Service)

From The CanWest News Service:

Sara Minogue
For Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, January 20, 2008

Nunavut is in the process of writing its own official languages act, one that could give the Inuit language - which includes its regional dialects - equal status with English and French.

And that could have huge implications for the people and government in the northern territory.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=dc1439a0-da5e-403f-ac94-e45a18a4d804&k=86097

Passing: Veteran TV actor Allan Melvin (Reuters)

Reuters through the Washington Post & The Los Angeles Times:

Reuters
Saturday, January 19, 2008

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Allan Melvin, a character actor known for appearances in such TV staples as "The Phil Silvers Show," "All in the Family" and "The Brady Bunch," has died, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday (January 19).

He played Cpl. Henshaw, the right-hand man to Silvers' Sgt. Ernie Bilko.
He went on to play Archie Bunker's neighbor Barney in "All in the Family," and different roles on at least eight episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show." Fans of "The Brady Bunch" knew him as Sam the butcher, the boyfriend of Alice the housekeeper.

Melvin also worked in cartoons, providing the voices of Magilla Gorilla in the Hanna-Barbera series of the same name and Bluto on "Popeye," the Times said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/19/AR2008011901214.html?hpid=entnews

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Greyhound revs up with a revamp, face lift (USA Today)

From USA Today:

By Jayne Clark, USA TODAY
January 18, 2008


The changes come at a time when intercity bus travel is on the rise, thanks in part to the entry of new, smaller bus lines. And so with a pack of those younger, regional carriers nipping at the heels of the only national intercity bus line, Greyhound has spruced up its fleet and many of its terminals.

Improvements onboard include reclining seats with lumbar support, footrests and carpeted ceilings for sound-proofing. At 125 stations, new signage has been installed along with better lighting, restroom renovations, and in some stations, flat-screen TVs. Employees have undergone a "rigorous" customer-service training program and drivers wear spiffy new uniforms.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2008-01-17-greyhound-revamp_N.htm

Passing: Empire State Building Pioneer (NPR)

From NPR News:

Weekend Edition Saturday
January 19, 2008

Jack Broad, the last "original" tenant of the Empire State Building who still worked there, died this month at age 98. He started a business in the New York landmark soon after the building opened in 1931. He loved the building, which he called a "cathedral of commerce."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18255129

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Out of the Icebox, Packers and Giants Made the N.F.L. Hot (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By Bill Pennington
Published: January 16, 2008

The 1961 and 1962 N.F.L. championship games, each ending with a Green Bay victory over the Giants, gave the league some much-needed celebrity and personality.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/sports/football/16giants.html?ref=sports

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Towns face off over claim to be nation’s ‘icebox’ (AP)

From The Associated Press via MSNBC:

Colorado, Minnesota municipalities feud over trademark

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22649329/?GT1=10755

Vt. Town's Way of Life Fades as Border Tightens (NPR)

From NPR News:

by Pam Fessler
Morning Edition, January 15, 2008

For many in the tiny town of Derby Line – one of the northernmost points in Vermont — Canada is literally across the street. It's where friends and relatives live, where you go to shop or pray.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17970334


See this earlier take on life along the border from a June, 2007 NPR feature that we posted at that time:
http://ericontheroad.blogspot.com/2007/06/border-rules-may-alter-life-on-canada.html

Monday, January 14, 2008

Passing: Johnny Podres, Pitched Brooklyn Dodgers to Only Championship (NY Daily News)

From The New York Daily News:

by Bill Madden
January 14, 2008

Johnny Podres, the cool and clutch lefty who pitched the Dodgers to their one and only world championship in Brooklyn by shutting out the Yankees, 2-0, in the seventh game of the 1955 World Series, died Sunday (january 13) night in a hospital in Glens Falls, N.Y. He was 75.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/01/14/2008-01-14_johnny_podres_dead_at_75.html

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Voices of the Past are Echoing Today (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By George Vescey (Sports of the Times)
January 13, 2008

Red Barber and Mel Allen were two of the distinctive American voices in baseball and their regional accents may still be relevant as Americans sort out exactly who we are.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/sports/baseball/13vecsey.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin

Place of Pride: Scranton (PRI)

From Studio 360 (WYNC/PRI):

The former coal and textile town in eastern Pennsylvania is the setting for NBC’s hit sitcom "The Office" . It’s filmed in California, but the producers think Scranton is the right locale for an office full of incompetents and slackers. Kurt Anderson called up Mayor Christopher A. Doherty to find out how the town is dealing with its newfound fame.

Also check out the accompanying slide show:

http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2008/01/11

A Building Boom to Welcome the Winter Games to Vancouver (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By Christopher Solomon
Published: January 13, 2008

AS the sawdust flies in anticipation of the 2010 Winter Olympics, new hotels — and many other things as well — are rising around Vancouver.

More than a half-dozen higher-end hotel projects will open in the next few years from Vancouver to the resort town of Whistler, about 80 miles to the north, where the Alpine and Nordic races will be held. Most hope to open before the Olympics.

It’s all part of a larger construction boom around B.C., although much of the activity is centered on greater Vancouver: between July and September 2007, there were 843 major capital projects planned or under way province-wide, worth a record 135 billion Canadian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars, according to the province’s Ministry of Economic Development.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/travel/13headsup.html?ref=travel

Saturday, January 12, 2008

In an Ancient Culture, a Team Takes Root (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By Greg Bishop
Published: January 12, 2008

For New Mexico’s Acoma tribe, the Dallas Cowboys connect a community fighting to maintain traditions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/12/sports/football/12cowboys.html?8dpc

Nine destination bookstores worth putting on a tourist's itinerary (AP)

From The Associated Press through USA Today:

By BETH J. HARPAZ, AP Travel Editor

NEW YORK — When is a bookstore worth a tourist's time?

When it's more than just a place to buy books.

A destination bookstore can make you feel like you're part of the community, whether you're grooving on the laid-back vibe at Powell's in Portland, or tuning into the Beltway buzz at Washington's Politics and Prose.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-01-09-nine-bookstore-destinations_N.htm

Magazine names 100 tastiest destinations (AP)

From The Associated Press through USA Today:

NEW YORK (AP) — Food from Maine, New Mexico, Salzburg and Montreal turned up on Saveur magazine's quirky list of 100 "favorite foods, restaurants, people, places and things."

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-01-10-100-tastiest-destinations_N.htm

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Jazz in Song: The Words - Johnny Mercer (NPR)

From NPR:

The popularity of jazz in its golden age owes much to the great American songbook.

Johnny Mercer knew: A song's notes can stir the soul, but the lyrics are what pierce the heart.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17929094

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

New Podcast Postings at conversationsontheroad.com

We've cleaned out a backlog after the holiday season.

There are a number of new podcast postings:
1. Boston Tea Party
2. Letters to Santa in Canada's North
3. Christmas in Santa Claus (Indiana)
4. A Brewing Tradition in Indiana
5. North America's First New Years Celebration
6. Mr. Auld Ang Syne Remembered

All can be found at:
http://conversationonstheroad.com/

The Life of Ethel Merman (WNYC)

From WNYC Radio:

Soundcheck
January 8, 2007

Born 100 years ago next week, Broadway belter Ethel Merman is now the subject of two new biographies. Music writer Brian Kellow paints a colorful, temperamental portrait of the singer and actress in his book Ethel Merman: A Life. He joins John Schaefer to tell her story, from her early triumph in "Girl Crazy" to a show-stopping cameo in the movie "Airplane!".

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/episodes/2008/01/08

Snow Falling on Voters (NY Times)

Op-ed Piece in The New York Times by Donald Hall, poet laureate of the United States from 2006 to 2007:

Some parts of New Hampshire remain untouched by politics.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html

"Bettman's leadership a disgrace" (CanWest News Service)

From the CanWest News Service via The Montreal Gazette:

by Dave Gross,
CanWest News Service

Gary Bettman's Reign as NHL Comiisioner has been, in the words of television broadcasting legend Ralph Mellanby, "a disgrace."

Mellanby, the brains behind CBC's Hockey Night in Canada for two decades, was exacting when he said: "He's done so much damage to hockey it may never recover. We don't have time to go through the litany of errors."

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/sports/story.html?id=072ef191-b174-426a-a59e-746810582e45

Skipping the Grand Canyon for a Town Hall Meeting (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

by Ashley Parker
New York Times, January 8, 2007

Political tourists flock to primary states.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/us/politics/08tourism.html

Setting May Be More Significant Than the Actual Game (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By William C. Rhoden
Published: January 8, 2008

For the first time in B.C.S. history, the overriding theme of championship week was not about the failure of the system: which team was denied, which team didn’t belong.

The system is so flawed that further debate seems futile.

The theme has been curiosity; concern over the healing process of New Orleans, a great city that was turned inside out by Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans still shows the effects — almost two and a half years later — of one of the worst disasters in United States history, which, by some estimates, claimed 1,400 lives.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/sports/ncaafootball/08rhoden.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin

Monday, January 07, 2008

Passing: Hockey Hall of Fame referee John Ashley (AP)

From The Associated Press through foxsports.com:


KITCHENER, Ontario (AP) - Hockey Hall of Fame referee John Ashley, who worked more than 650 NHL games in a career that began nearly 50 years ago, has died (January 5, 2007). He was 77.

Ashley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981, following 18 years in the NHL - 13 as a referee and five as a scout and adviser to officials. He refereed 622 NHL regular-season games and 58 in the playoffs during his career. From 1964-72, he worked every postseason Game 7.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/7649974

Red Fisher has this rememberance:
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/sports/story.html?id=872aa334-39c3-42ae-b2b2-cf34e3be17d6

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Sports Fan Wins Couch Potato Competiton (NPR)

From NPR News:

Morning Edition, January 4, 2008

Sports fan Stan Friedman wins the Ultimate Couch Potato Competition. He had to sit on a recliner watching TV sports. He could order unlimited food and drink. But he wasn't allowed to fall asleep, and he got only one break every eight hours. After 29 hours, Friedman triumphed when his last competitor made an unscheduled bathroom break.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17840879

Where Once Brooklyn Triumphed, a Tragic Scene (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By Manny Fernandez
Published: January 6, 2008

It has been 50 years since the Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field on Sept. 24, 1957. For residents of the Ebbets Field Apartments — the high-rise housing complex erected at the site of the ballpark in Crown Heights — 50 years can seem like ancient history.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/nyregion/06ebbetts.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

In West Granite, the Bypassing Parade (Washington Post)

From The Washington Post:


By Kevin Merida
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 5, 2008; Page C01

Uneasy neighborhood finds it's a dead end on campaigns' trail.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/04/AR2008010404048.html

Friday, January 04, 2008

Katrina-displaced cooks help spread love of Cajun, Creole fare (AP)

From the Associated Press (through USA Today):

By Vicki Smith, Associated Press Writer

Displaced Mississippi and Louisiana residents have taken root in an unlikely place, bringing along a hankering for the tastes of home and the ability to share them. From Nevada to West Virginia, professional and amateur chefs alike are sharing Cajun and Creole fare with folks who still consider it exotic.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-01-03-katrina-chefs_N.htm

King's Ball is Missouri town's answer to Mardi Gras (AP)

From The Associated Press (through USA Today):

By Cheryl Wittenauer, Associated Press Writer

STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. — Mardi Gras celebrations in places like New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., are well-known. But a Missouri village with French roots has its own pre-Lenten party — a traditional ball that dates back more than 250 years.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-01-03-missouri-mardi-gras_N.htm

Passing: Toronto sportswriting legend Milt Dunnell (Toronto Star)

From The Toronto Star:

byDave Perkins
Sports Reporter

Toronto sportswriting legend Milt Dunnell – a legend well beyond that city's borders, in fact – died in his sleep last night at the age of 102.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/290693