what about the plastic animals?

Pest Control

The oddest thing happened at work today.  For the past few days these two machines have been in the hallway outside the lab of the visiting scientist on the first floor.  They must have motion sensors because when I walked by them this afternoon the protruding tubes began gesticulating wildly, the round thing on top started rotating, and they began shouting in a shrill, mechanical voice that I was not to move.   I think the scientist is working on some sort of pest control device because they also started shouting "Exterminate!  Exterminate!"  I kept walking and nearly collided with the scientist as he wheeled around the corner.  He had the nerve to yell at me for disturbing his experiment!  Definitely an odd day at work.

The Magic Chef

This picture has nothing to do with what I want to write about but how often do you see an old LeBaron on the street?  Then again, the website I need to link to for the punchline of my story is down so I've got nothing to write this evening.  Instead, why don't say hello to Shelley Duvall.

They Got A Bigger Pot

Stanton, Iowa is home to not only the world's largest coffee pot but also the world's largest coffee cup.  The cup is larger than the pot but do not concern yourselves with the logical inconsistency.

Why, being of inquisitive mind, you might ask, does Stanton have the world's largest coffee cup and pot?  Is it to take advantage of the nearby coffee plantations?  No, there are no nearby coffee plantations.  Is it needed to satisfy the caffeine cravings of the local populace?  Judging from the one Stantonite (Stantonian?) I talked to the local populace is not over caffeinated.

To understand why Stanton has succumbed to coffee gigantism of award-winning Swedish design look no further than this old commercial (which, if you watch it all the way through, will also explain the title of this post).  Stanton native Virginia Christine played Mrs. Olsen in those commercials.

I have no idea why Stanton is known as The Little White City.  I had wanted to try the pie at Susie's Kitchen, but they had closed for the day by the time I arrived.

Temperatures Across the State

Back in the good old days, one of the great pleasures of living in Lincoln was watching the weather on the local news.  Before cable was ubiquitous Channel 10/11 was the only local station that could be viewed in outstate Nebraska.

Every night at 6 and 10 the local news would begin with five minutes of weather.  The camera would lovingly pan its way across the handwritten map from Chadron in the panhandle to Falls City in the southeastern corner.  Bruce Kopplin would dutifully and monotonically read off the temperature of every single city on the map.  He once explained that he had to mention every city or the station got barraged with angry phone calls from the overlooked town.  Toward the end of my stay the station upgraded to a map with stick on temperatures.

It was with great disappointment that I saw the fancy new computer graphics.  There was no panning and the weather guy didn't mention every city.  So disappointing.  I was half-tempted to call the station and express my outrage that they had skipped McCook.

1955 DuMont Television

The switch to HDTV is going to be a real shock to someone on Fort Washington Ave. 

"No way!"  I muttered to myself when I spotted this television set from a block away.  I kept repeating that phrase, well, not exactly that phrase, there was another word between "no" and "way", as I got closer.  Somebody was throwing out their DuMont TV set.  Their 1955 DuMont RA-301 Console (blonde wood).  This is an object so obscure that I could only find one picture on the Internet.  I hope somebody grabs this thing before it gets picked up with the trash tomorrow morning.

TV Watching

I caught my niece Zoe watching television one morning.  She was looking through the handle on the box.

Riverside Trek Fest This Weekend

One more set from Iowa before getting back to Ohio.  This Friday and Saturday is Trek Fest in Riverside, the festival in which Riverside celebrates itself as the future birthplace of James T. Kirk.  The USS Riverside sits in the town park.  Trek Fest features a demolition derby, a costume contest (two categories:  "Federation and Klingon" and "Supporting Cast"), bands, a BBQ sandwich meal, Federation games (including Tribble Whack and Horta Egg Toss), a greased pig contest, lawn mower tractor pulls, and a Sci Fi swap meet among other activities.

Good Morning, America

I've felt pretty lousy the past few days so this morning, after sleeping through my alarm, I decided to take the day off.  Around 2 o'clock I was feeling sufficiently well that I went out to eat lunch and go for a walk.  At 110th and Broadway I was stopped by a crew from Good Morning America.

They wanted to know if I found grocery shopping frustrating.  Were the long lines a hassle?  Were the narrow aisles getting to me?  Did I find grocery stores too crowded?  Although I admitted admiring the wide aisles of suburban grocery stores, I mostly said that I wasn't frustrated by grocery shopping.  It was funny, because I could clearly sense their frustration that I wasn't giving them the answers they wanted to hear.  I assume this means I won't make the cut.  If you watch Good Morning America and see an unshaven guy in a orange wool hat talking about grocery stores, that's me.

In other major media news, if you are a Sirius radio subscriber you can hear my friend Janet on their Catholic Channel tomorrow evening.  The snow work of a chilled acquaintance was highlighted in a New York Times article on Sunday (you'll have to pay to access that one though).

Hmm, you can pay to read about Jessie, pay to listen to Janet, or watch me for free.  I think the choice is clear!

Update:  I almost forgot my other major media appearance!  Our center got a call Monday morning from a reporter in Switzerland asking about New York weather.  The call got transferred to me because other people were busy.  It wasn't very clear, but I think the interview was recorded for a radio news report.
  

Overturned School Bus!

There was an overturned school bus at 117th and St. Nicholas yesterday.

Good thing Dennis Leary was there!  What's the guy on the right doing?

Throwing a handful of foam through the bus window before Leary jumps in to the rescue.

Episode spoiler if you follow the jump.

Mayberry

While I was in the neighborhood I wanted to visit Mt. Airy, Andy Griffith's hometown and the inspiration for his Mayberry. I was surprised to be reminded of the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles. The museum mixes factual and fictional exhibits and treats both with earnestness and gravity. Downtown Mt. Airy has the feel of a place that has made great efforts to become the fictional location of Mayberry. There are real places, the Snappy Lunch and Floyd's City Barber Shop, that Griffith used in his show, while other businesses have adopted an early 1960s look to them. Despite this, and the several schlocky gift shops, I enjoyed my visit. I toured the Andy Griffith Museum, ate at the Snappy Lunch, and walked around quite a bit in the rain.

The sheriff's car.

A 1962 sheriff's car is parked in front of the old city jail.

Lunch was a tasty pork chop sandwich at the Snappy Lunch.

Pink Floyd t-shirt.

One of the suits Andy wore on Matlock.

Photography is forbidden at the visitor's center/Andy Griffith museum. I didn't know this until after I had taken several pictures. The visitor's center was impressive. One of Andy Griffith's childhood friends began collecting Griffith memorabilia long ago, and that memorabilia is on display in three galleries. Another gallery displays memorabilia of Mt. Airy native Donna Fargo, and the original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng Bunker, who lived and died nearby, are remembered in another gallery.