NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Some animals simply hide from predators, concealing themselves in burrows, under rocks or leaves, in tree hollows, or in other niches where they are hard to find.

Let's watch as the crouching lioness stalks her prey among the tall grasses.

Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or wispy shapes to realistic, life-like creatures.

When the great white shark bites it shakes its head side to side, helping the teeth saw off large chunks of flesh.

When deer are in the dark by the side of the road and a car's headlights shine on them, they are blinded momentarily and are susceptible to being shot.

Different animals live in different strata of the forest.  For example, birds live in the canopy (upper leaves of trees) and in the emergent (the tops of tallest trees).

Some small animals appear to be harmless, but many tiny creatures around the world are capable of delivering a deadly knock-out to the unsuspecting human who crosses their path, as if to compensate for their small size.

CHESTS FOR CHARITY

A few weeks ago Btut had a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness in which people gathered at the Brick to decorated bras.  I missed that part of the fundraiser, but I was there Friday night when some of the bras were auctioned off.  And Miss Btut and her hot, sexy models raised more than $500!  Way to go!

Poor J BigDawes, he needed a little help and encouragement...I guess he has not had many chances to model women's underwear (at least not in public). 

There...all done, and now he gets some extra special love from Btut!  (Please notice that 2 out of 3 bras that J BigDawes modeled were Alabama Roll Tide)

This guy was nice and really had a great time!

He was a hoot too!  All eyes on you!

Wino Bill trying to give the J BigDawes some pointers...I can hear J BigDawes saying "You know, I was the model for the highest priced bid tonight"...Uh Oh....wait...I think.....

...J BD started to channel his inner Zoolander!  Too funny!

Bear seems like he has done this before!

Good times!  Thanks guys for doing this for a good cause!

USELESS INFO TUESDAY

~  Ludwig van Beethoven's music serves as the official anthem of the European Union.  The anthem is a version of "Ode to Joy," the final movement of his Ninth Symphony.


                                     
~  Honda and Subaru are the only two other vehicles mentioned in Bruce Springsteen's song "Pink Cadillac."

~  Portraits of George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette hang on either side of the speaker's rostrum in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Washington to the right - de Lafayette to the left.

 ~  In Norman Rockwell's famous painting of Rosie the Riveter, she is crushing a tattered copy of Adolph Hitler's "Mein Kampf."

~  The proposed Washington Circumferential Highway was renamed the Capital Beltway after construction got underway in the early 1950's.  The 64-mile long freeway encircles Washington, D.C.

'SPLAIN THAT, LEO

I like Leonardo DiCaprio.  He is a good actor...and not hard to look at.  I really became a fan when I saw this picture of him last year...

"Hey Leo, Can I get a War Eagle?"  I knew he had a exceptionally gifted mind.

Well, imagine my surprise when, during his Spring Fling with Blake Lively, low and behold, he was wearing this!

I told myself that 

1.  he was just giving a shout out to Tuscaloosa because of the recent tornadoes...  

2.  he felt really sorry for all of the people of Alabama during that horrific time and wanted us to feel his support...

3.  he was having a bad hair day all the way over in the South of France and the only hat he could find to buy was an Alabama Crimson Tide one...

or (the most likely)...

4.  he had just plain lost his mind!

It turns out that none of the above is correct.  He has an obsession with college caps.  If you google Leo and baseball caps you will see him, at one time or another, representing most of all colleges in the US.  Hell, I went through a series of just him at LA Lakers games over the past two years and saw him sport:  Georgia, UCLA, Florida Atlantic, Notre Dame, Louisville,  Long Beach State, Virginia Common Wealth, Rhode Island, Arizona State, South Carolina, Michigan...even Austen Peay!

Now that I think of it, Titanic wasn't all that great.

USELESS INFO TUESDAY

Sorry I have been neglecting my duties!  It has been a very busy month.  I will try to do better.

~  Footprints or tracks left by animals are called pugmarks.

~  Christopher Columbus lost a total of 9 ships during his four expeditions to the New World - one, the Santa Maria, on the first expedition; four on the second; and two each on the third and fourth expeditions.

~  A giant anteater eats about 30,000 ants and termites in a day.

~  Five last names were shared by U.S. presidents:  Adams (father and son John and John Quincy); Harrison (grandfather and grandson William H. and Benjamin); Johnson (non-relatives Andrew and Lyndon); Roosevelt (distant cousins Theodore and Franklin D.); and Bush (father and son George H. W. and George W.).

~  In Africa, where the Blue Nile and White Nile meet has been described by Arab poets as "the longest kiss in history."  The merge at Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

USELESS INFO TUESDAY

~  F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the short story upon which the 2008 film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was based.  His story, which bears the same name as the movie, first say print in "Colliers" magazine in 1922.

~  The term "scapegoat" originated from the Old Testament (Leviticus 16:10), which recounts how Aaron, following God's direction, was to confess the sins of the people over the head of a live goat and then send it out into the wilderness in symbolic atonement for those sins.  In the Jewish religion, Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement.

~  Four state capitals have the word "city" in their name - Carson City, Nevada; Jefferson City, Missouri; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

~  Admiral Richard E. Byrd took two and a half tons of Necco wafers on his second expedition to the South Pole.  During the two year expedition, his men consumed an average of a pound of the tiny pastel candies each week.

~  When Muhammad Ali stated "I said I was the greatest, not the smartest" he was referring to the fact that he failed the U.S. Army aptitude test in 1964 with a score of 78.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 "A lot of foreigners to Alabama's red clay want to mix it with sand.  When you mix red clay and sand, you get concrete.  That's not good dirt."

Yes, you heard it!  From our own Dr. Sweephay via an article in the Decatur Daily.  So please go see her at Sugar Magnolia's for all your botanical needs.  She knows her dirt.

THIS JUST IN...

...from Triple T and Big D:


Health Alert!

When you drink Vodka over ice, it can give you kidney failure.

When you drink Rum over ice, it can give you liver failure.

When you drink Whiskey over ice, it can give you heart problems.

When you drink Gin over ice, it can give you brain problems.

Apparently, ice is really bad for you!

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION

The following has been brought to you by AndyRandy Productions.  Any unlicensed use of this program is punishable by fines and/or prison sentence.  Thank you.

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USELESS INFO TUESDAY

~  The state of Alaska is hit by more than half of the earthquakes recorded in the United States.  It straddles the border of two tectonic plates.  It is hit with a magnitude 7 to 8 earthquake almost annually, and with a "great" earthquake - magnitude 8 or higher - an average of once every 13 years.

~  The very first item sold on Ebay was a broken laser pointer, for $14.83, in September 1995.  At the time, Ebay was called AuctionWeb.

~  Nathaniel Hawthorne created the Gray Champion, the first superhero in American fiction.  He was an aged ghostlike figure who stood up alone against British troops advancing toward colonists gathered on a Boston street.  He appears in the short story "The Gray Champion," published in "The New-England Magazine" in 1835.

~  During the first holiday meal of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) apple slices are traditionally dipped in honey.  After taking bites of the honey-dipped apple, holiday observers recite a special prayer in which they ask God for a good and sweet new year.

~  Super Bowl Sunday ranks second only to Thanksgiving when it come to highest food consumption in the U.S.

BACON-WRAPPED PIG SKIN

Had a great bacon-wrapped day Saturday at the Big Dawes' for the football games. 

First off, let me start by saying we all missed Mrs. BigDawes lots!  She was in Canada; therefore, not home.

                           

Second, let me protect myself by issuing the following statement: "The blog you are about to read is true.  Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent."  (Who am I kidding, no one there was innocent - except maybe that 9 year old boy that was there in the den)


                                    
As you can see, Mr. BigDawes was so elated when we all showed up at his house to party!

You can always find TCW near the food, especially if Dr. Sweephay brings the sweets (which she did).

A AndyRandy relaxing with his step son Johnny Cash.  (I guess you could say that Johnny Cash was is also innocent).

BTut in all her glory - War Damn Eagle!

Mr. Right Wright and Wino Bill holding down their chairs.

Mr. and Mrs Right Wright - I love y'all.  Y'all are sooooo funny!

R AndyRandy with their brother J.

S&M came for the Bama game...

...along with L'il Debbie...

...Cousin It... (Blacy)

...and our Ghost!

Good Times, Good Friends, Good Weather, Good Football!  What a great way to start October.

Now, my new favorite part of blogging about our get togethers...

Guess The Phrase!   (try to figure out who said what)
~  Damn, that's wrinkle free
~  Bow to the in
~  I'm ready for somethin' bacon-wrapped
~  I have to love him, 'cause if not, he'd have to get off my barbecue team
~  Farmin's hard
~  That shit right there is crucial to the structure
~  1:  You don't have to whisper.  2:  Yes we do.  We don't want you to hear.
~  1:  I've got German in me.  2:  Right now?