I recently listened to two copies of Ernest Hemmingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" - the first: a cassette reading from the library; the second: a CD reading available free at Waldenbooks. It's a pretty good story. What I was interested to find out is that the actual snow on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro is melting away at an alarming rate. Apparently, this story was also made into a movie with Gregory Peck.

I was trying to figure out what an advent calendar is for, when I stumbled across some websites that contained a lot of background information on some of the mythology, legends, and traditions we take part in sometimes unknowingly. I guess Advent is a Catholic religious holiday. I also learned that the Catholic church, itself, isn't quite sure whether or not "St. Nicolas" is real or not. Did you know that tinsel (garland) supposedly originally came from a spider's web strand, and that holly berries apparently started out white (or yellow), not red?

UPDATE: in my Sept 13th blog, I asked about Heinz and their 57 varieties. I've now found an article from the Straight Dope that asks and partially answers the same question, including providing some badly needed background research.

The 'Ensign' magazine recently changed their fonts - 1 thumb down, in my opinion. I like the old ones better. I also just finished listening to two vintage Sherlock Holmes audio plays: "The Blackmailer" and "Scandal in Bohemia". You know, I suspect the Holmes mysteries used to be all the rage, but they seem to be a little too simple and undeveloped to me. Maybe I've just seen too many mystery movies or something, but I expected the plots to be more developed and entangled. 2 thumbs down for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I've had a little bad luck with library audio tapes this past round. Two of the audio books I've checked out were hosed: "Unguarded Moment" by Louis L'Amour, and "Dragon" by Clive Cussler. L'Amour's tape was cut in half, and Cussler's was crinkled and folded upside down so all the audio was played backwards.

Two of the albums I recently obtained didn't live up to expectations. "Home" by The Dixie Chicks, and "Cry" by Faith Hill. Earlier albums by both were much better. I found two hilarious sites that ultra-condense books and movies down to their bare essense: Book-A-Minute and Movie-A-Minute.

The El Pollo Loco across the street from Parkland Mall sucks compared to the one on Prater in Sparks. Their Chicken Tostada Salads don't even compare. We recently watched Adam Sandler's "Mr. Deeds", a hilarious film with Winona Ryder. I also just started participating in Project Dolphin. (Check out my stats.)

Just saw a cool Animal Planet program on the 10 toughest survivors on the planet. The Water Bear is virtually indestructable. It can survive the vacuum of space, extreme temperature variations (-350*F to 300*F), being frozen solid, in a desert with no water, etc., and can come back to life over 100 years later after retreating into a death-like state. Simply remarkable. I also didn't know that Komodo Dragons are extremely stinky animals. Hmmm.

Christmas photos coming soon...