Better Living Thru Blogging!

Mail Cats!

I heard a rumor a few weeks ago that someone once tried to train cats - CATS - to deliver mail. Sure enough, it really happened; someone wrote a story about it: The Mail-Carrier Cats of Liège!

Amazingly, this tale was inspired by a true event. It took place in 1879 in Liège, Belgium. The city fathers attempted to train 37 cats (imagine that!) to deliver mail from the central post office to outlying villages. What the cats thought about this, and what they did and didn’t do, is lost in the mists of time. All we know is that the scheme didn’t turn out exactly as planned.

For the life of me, I can’t even begin to fathom what could possibly make someone think that a cat could be trained to do this.

Veep Choices

John McCain should select J.C. Watts as his Vice-Presidential candidate.
Barack Obama should select retired general Wesley Clark as his Vice-Presidential candidate. Both moves would likely satisfy the “base” of each party.

Obama’s selection of Clark would give him the military & foreign-policy depth that he desperately needs. As a former Presidential candidate, Clark has been vetted about as thoroughly as possible. He also would represent maturity, something that Obama, at the tender age of 46, doesn’t quite project.

Watts is much more of a conservative than McCain and would reassure the right-wing that McCain “gets” it. He’s a former Congressman, a sports hero, and man of the cloth; how much more conservative could he be? And true, the fact that he is black might elicit enough interest among Obama supporters to at least give the Republican ticket a second look, if not draw some Dems away outright.

“You Know You Want It”

Where are you going on your next romantic getaway? Well, if you listen to talk-radio on the AM dial, the answer to that question is probably Tahiti Village, in the most exciting city on earth, Las Vegas! At least, that’s where Tanya Roberts wants you to go. According to the never-ending commercials featuring Roberts promoting Tahiti Village, you get three days and two nights in Las Vegas, and you don’t pay a dime for it! Oh - and if you call right now, they’ll throw in two tickets to a hot show right on the Strip - can you say “high-roller treatment, baby?”

Gah. If memory serves, these commercials have been running for at least two - maybe three - years. The words never change (except the phone # to call); it’s always a reference to the NEWEST Las Vegas resort. Um…after three years, I don’t know if it qualifies as “newest.” Unless no other resorts have been opened in Vegas since then. Depends on your definition of “resort,” then. And I think I’ve heard Roseanne Barr (!) promoting Tahiti Village on the radio, and seen a few TV spots featuring Alan Thicke.

One of the most annoying parts of the commercial is when breathless Tanya oozes, “You know you deserve it…you know you want it!” Um…you know what? Some people DON’T deserve it. Even if the offer was legit, not everyone “deserves” a nice vacation to a luxury resort. Shameless pandering, nothing more.

Anyway. Listening to the commercials - which, if you listen to talk-radio for more than a few weeks, you can recite along with Tanya - you might think that Tahiti Village is a fancy hotel, right? Nope. According to the extensive research that I did a few minutes (ie, Googling), Tahiti Village is actually a time-share, not merely a resort hotel. Either way, it sounds scammy. Any enterprise that has to rely on the same commercial using has-been (or nearly-has-been) celebrities for nearly three years is either (a) a scam, or (b) too stupid to earn my money.

Six Days A Week

In light of higher gas prices, and so much public concern about environmental issues, I got to wondering: why does the US Postal Service deliver on Saturdays? Most non-retail businesses - and government agencies - operate primarily on a Monday through Friday schedule. So why does the USPS continue working on Saturday? It strikes me that discontinuing Saturday service would be a huge public-relations coup. And as much as I hate environmentalism and eco-religion, strictly from an economic perspective, the amount of gas that would be saved from such a move would be enormous

So. Anyone know why the USPS delivers on Saturday?

Linkage

Top Ten Most Worthless College Majors: yes, many of the usual suspects are here, including Art Therapy, Film, and Communications.

Wanna see a kick-ass picture of a rainbow taken in Bozeman?

Gliffy is super-cool. It’s an online site/tool that allows you to create flow-charts, floor plans, and other cool images. You can use it for free, or sign up for a $5/month account for extra features. I signed up to give it a test run, and since I didn’t use it very often, I canceled my account. The good folks at Gliffy refunded my entire 3-month cost - very nice of them.

And if you’ve ever wanted to see what it’s like to visit the bar that GQ magazine ranked as the “#1 Bar In The World Worth Flying To Get To,” then check out the video introduction to the legendary Sip-n-Dip Lounge located right here in Great Falls, Montana!

Ice Is Cold, Sun Is Hot

Wow. Quentin Tarantino delivered an “expletive-laden” speech at the Cannes Film Festival. Ummm…QT using foul language? Gosh, didn’t see that coming at all.

Mind you, I’m not a huge fan of foul language in everyday speech. There is a time & a place for it. And QT is a expert at knowing when and where in his movies.

Blogs I Like

- Dr Brenda, MD: a med-blog that features an occasional “Disease Of The Week” contest. No prizes, but fun for amateur diagnosticians!

- The Stupid Shall Be Punished: bet ya didn’t know that there were retired UN Navy submariners living in Idaho, keeping an eye on our sub fleet.

- Miss Fancy Rants: a pop-culture cornucopia! Recently, she offered her thoughts on the Miley Cyrus scandal, and found a whimsically bizarre site called “Sleeve Face.”

- Myrhaf: one of the smartest guys I’ve come across in the ‘Sphere in quite a while. ‘Nuff said.