Hotter than a real Chinese firecracker

Yikes. Another 100 degree day arrives here in the great Pacific Northwest. Granted, when it nears 65 degrees in these here parts, shorts and sweatshirts are normal attire. Hot and cold mean something different to us, compared to, oh, say, my relatives' definition of weather in Nebraska.

When the temperature rises to three digits, well, as you might guess, we are hot, and we are bothered. Me? I'm trying to chill out by checking out what's new and newsy. (I'm also wondering for the zillionth time why I don't own an air-conditioned house. And unlike previous scorching days, when we'd drive our air-conditioned cars around to cool off, well, that little gas-price problem has stopped that method of lowering the body temperature.)

Burning Olympics topic:: No, I'm not wondering how the swimmers get into those itsy bitsy teeny weeny suits. I'm thinking ahead to the next Summer Olympics, the London 2012 version. You know, I hope, that you will not see softball or baseball, but you can still watch the heart-thumpin' drama of the flight of the shuttlecock. Yes, Badminton, the "world's fastest racket sport" will still award gold medals, as will Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Handball and the subject of one of a most-hilarious skit on "Saturday Night Live," with Martin Short and Harry Shearer.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/mens-synchronized-swimming/1980340333

No offense to any of these sports, or the athletes who participate in them, but somehow, my viewing habits tend toward other areas:: Gymnastics, Swimming, Track and Field. You know, the sports that get the highest viewership, things like that.

But in a secret International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2005, only baseball and softball were eliminated from the list of Olympic sports. Someone reported that these two sports were "too American." The last sport eliminated from the Olympics was polo, in 1936. "Live Pigeon Shooting" was eliminated in 1900 -- the gold medal was awarded to the athlete who killed the most birds -- but I suspect no one misses that "sport."

Oh, in case you missed it, Badminton Doubles gold went to China, the silver was won by Korea and the bronze went to China. Is that "too Asian?"

Potential hot top alert:: The Census Bureau released a report a couple of days ago that informed us that white Americans will no longer be a majority by 2042. (Disclaimer: I'm a white female. The female part probably makes me more of a minority in many ways than the "white" part.) Just four years ago, The Census folks projected the white minority would occur in 2050. Why do I feel an uncomfortable event or situation coming on? It's partly the fault of aging Baby Boomers. But perhaps we need to discuss this situation before people work themselves into a sweat over the change. But maybe I'm too cynical. Or too pale. Or too hot. Anyone out there have an opinion?

Shaken, not stirred:: Child, Julia Child. Who knew? Hot topic yesterday was the just-released documents of people who spied for the OSS during World War II. According to the CIA (the OSS was folded into the CIA after Pres. Truman disbanded it in 1945), that tasty little souffle Ms. Child was cooking in her TV kitchen might have had a coded message baked inside.

Other undercover agents included: Boston Red Sox catcher Moe Berg; actor Sterling Hayden; Kermit Roosevelt, son of the Pres. known as "Teddy"; Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg; and Miles Copeland, pop of pop band The Police's drummer Stewart Copeland.

Some 750,000 documents detailing the OSS operatives were CIA-classified for decades; the National Archives let 'em out yesterday, hot off the press.

Are you thinking "Big Hollywood Movie" like yours truly?

Hunk of burning science news:: Divers have discovered 13 new species of fish near Micronesia (if you're somewhat geographically impaired as I am, you'll know the place because TV's "Survivor" has filmed two seasons there). A quote I saw under one of the photos released by the BBC made me wonder if this was a good-or-bad-news situation: "The bright blue damselfish is finally in the hands of science."

Despite an urge to avoid going outside, I must. As I leave, sunscreened from head-to-toe, I'll leave you with this thought.

Quote O' The Day:: "I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean." ~G.K. Chesterton

That's all she wrote. Today. Until later...

Liar, liar pants on fire

Before I discuss the fountain of fibs in the news lately, I'd be remiss not to share a photo of my friend and not-constant companion (he belongs to friends, but loves me, anyway). His antics have slowed my blog musings -- what? You thought I wrote these passages without wearing sunglasses? He ate mine, just a day after being diagnosed with pancreatitis. He'll be okay, the vet says. The sunglasses, however, are ... well, somewhere in his digestive system.

Without further ado, my pal Rome.

More on the Susan G. Komen Foundation at a later date. Irony of ironies, my dad is scheduled for a mammogram tomorrow. My mom has no idea how this is accomplished, and my sister and I are clueless as well.

But onto the tall tales of the past week...

Bad sports:: The Chinese. C'mon. Pavarotti had to lip-sync while singing at the 2006 Winter Game because of the bitter cold. He was an opera star. But the Chinese substituted a different girl to fake her way through "Ode To The Motherland" during the Olympics' Opening Ceremony because she was "cuter" than the 7-year-old who really belted it out? Talk about giving the real singer a complex. I think both girls are cute. Check it out here.

Then we find out the awe-inspiring fireworks display was also "tweaked?" What? Chinese? Firecrackers? Faked? This incident reminds me of the fear of computers that scifi writers threw at us years ago. First, you mess around a tiny bit with The Olympics, then you fake The President's press briefings because he got shot by The Vice President. Or something like that.

When it's okay to lie:: In the past week or so, 125,000 gorillas -- classified as "critically endangered" -- were spotted in the Congo. Dang it. Did we really have to know this until some wildlife folks got a handle on this, to keep the poachers away?

Then someone started yapping about an "undiscovered" waterfall in the Amazon region. Oh, some locals knew about it, but now that the word is out, expeditions are on their way to see and document this treasure.

Not a lie, exactly:: Also in the undiscovered news category was the announcement was the report detailing the findings of Roman ruins in the ancient Jewish capital of Galilee in Israel. Apparently, the city of Zippori housed a significant pagan population, who with Jewish and Christian neighbors, developed a hometown with various kinds of buildings. Neat archaeological info. But the article in LiveScience, describe a temple depicting the Roman gods Zeus and Tyche.

Now, as a dedicated Xena: Warrior Princess fan, I know that these two gods were Greek. I tried to find an explanation of why the Roman gods weren't named Jupiter and Fortuna on this temple, but alas, I gave up. Poor scholar that I am, perhaps someone can set me straight here.

Who should know when not to lie:: John Edwards. You were running for President, sir, and when the you-admitted-it affair occurred, your wife was battling cancer. Did he actually think this information would remain buried? This is mind-numbing. Enough said.

And yes, telemarketers lie, but:: I don't have any aversion to junk mail. Frankly, I miss finding anything in my mailbox. (Like even a "what are ya up to card" from friends -- hint, hint.) Sure, from an ecological viewpoint, saving all that paper is great. (I wonder, though, scientific genius that I am, if all the computers buzzing out spam and e-mails are all that much better.)

But there are folks who just don't want anything in their mailboxes they didn't ask for. They're adamant about not receiving junk. They're ticked. Fightin' mad. So I shouldn't have been startled to see what creative people do with junk mail. Quite fascinating, and in the case of #7, well, it seems a bit extreme to me, but read what some people do with bricks.

That's it. I think I need to ponder animals, like my friend Rome. Studies (you know, three-out-of-four-internal physicians-report kind-of studies) say that human blood pressure lowers while petting an animal, as does the pet. So, here's a fitting thought.

Quote O' The Day:: "It's funny how dogs and cats know the insides of other folks better than other folks do, isn't it?" ~Eleanor H. Porter, in "Pollyanna"

And that's all she wrote. Today. Until later...