The Daily News: Sunday Morning Edition

Happy Sunday! We are moving slowly this morning. Slept in, as a matter of fact. That's rare but it does happen. Today's Morning Edition is somewhat odd. We have a HUGE long piece on Madison, Wisconsin.
We also have some fun "eye candy stuff." Well, at least it's eye candy to us, maybe not to you.

We start off with a video that is linked to the front page of today's Idaho Statesman in connection with an article about the BWCs. The article was kinda heavy reading so we figured we'd go with the eye candy video to kick off today's edition.

Here's the video:

http://youtu.be/0jzTSuK_B8Q

And for those interested in somewhat heavier content about the BWCs, here's the link: http://www.idahostatesman.com/

This for me is a sad-happy-sad-happy article from my hometown newspaper in Lafayette, Indiana. This building was "My First Museum." I can't even begin (or perhaps ever) describe the impact this building and its contents had on my life. You could make the case that this building and its former contents (plus the city's library) shaped my life as we know it today. To write more commentary about how that took place its beyond the scope of this edition. Anyway, now at least you, too, get to take a peek inside.

http://www.jconline.com/interactive/article/20140329/COLUMNISTS30/303290010/Bangert-Historic-Fowler-House-sale-video-tour

Some eye candy from The Houston Chronicle.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/gallery/The-Elissa-sets-sail-82913.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elissa_(ship)

Some more eye candy for my boat and ship loving Friends. Who knew there was such a simulator?

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/gallery/Navigating-the-ship-channel-82921.php

Just in case you've wondered why the price of limes is so high. Limes are one of my favorite foods.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/26/294413761/in-mexico-and-u-s-lime-lovers-feel-squeezed-by-high-prices

Finally, the truth of an important matter:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/03/24/what-women-want-on-the-dance-floor-according-to-science/?hpid=z8

The scene on Madison, Wisconsin's State Street last night after The Badgers edged The Arizona Wildcats by one point in overtime. This is typical of what the "student body" is capable of doing after a sports victory.

We have fond thoughts of Madison, Wisconsin. At one time we actually wanted to live there. We visited Madison several times while we were in college at Purdue. As much as we love the Arizona Wildcats, we also have an abiding love for The Badgers. So as much as we were sorry to see The Cats lose, we sure were happy to see The Badgers win.

Because of the University of Wisconsin, Madison has always been a vibrant and eclectic college town. After The Cats went down last night by one point in overtime, we decided to take a trip down memory lane and roam 'round Madison. The trip lasted over an hour and it was quite fun and brought back a lot of memories.

Madison has always been kind of "out there," especially in the context of the staid ol' Midwest. Seeing Madison in the 1960's from the perspective of Purdue always made me envious of Madison. So, it was fun to see this article about one of the country's leaders of the "Slow Food Movement" speaking in Madison.

http://host.madison.com/daily-cardinal/chef-alice-waters-lectures-on-slow-food-movement-at-uw/article_b5a27e50-b62e-11e3-8de2-001a4bcf887a.html

This sort of strident, outspoken persona always seems to wash ashore in Madison.

http://host.madison.com/news/local/city-life/alice-waters-favorite-madison-anecdote-sardine-going-sustainable/article_880082df-57a5-516a-a305-a0bfeb78081a.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Waters

I've always had a fond spot for Madison journalists, too. Somehow, it's always been a tradition up there for journalists to talk about their stuff. That's why I got such a kick out of this editorial cartoon and the accompanying explanation.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/column/phil_hands/hands-on-wisconsin-bucky-phones-aaron-rodgers-for-advice-on/article_4afc508b-8e24-5bcc-ac7b-006778cd1360.html

I joined the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at Purdue in 1966. The UW Kappa Sigma was legendary as one of The All Time Party Houses in the Big 10 in that era. It was so legendary that once my Purdue chapter chartered a Greyhound bus to go to Madison to party with The Big Boys. Combined together, we could have taught the screenwriters for "Animal House" a thing or two! (The phot above, of course, is theKappa Sigma house in Madison and, yes, that's Lake Mendota on the other side of the hosue.

Some memories from that trip. The Brothers had a huge keg bar set up in their basement. Beer Is Life in Wisconsin. In the 1960's Beer was Larger Than Life there. Anyway, the kegs were hidden from view. Only the taps were visible. One of the Badger Kappa Sigs took a few of us on tour of the basement bar and solemnly swore that because of the clout of one of the alums, the Kappa Sig house had a direct line to the brewery and they would never run out of beer. They called it 'The Endless Kegger." Of course, we all nodded in agreement and were SOOOO envious!

The women of the University of Wisconsin were legendary beauties. It was said that you could simply walk into the lobby of a women's dorm and pick up the phone and call anyone at random and get the Dream Date of Your Life. Well, naturally, I had to give it a try. Believe it of not, it worked. I called up someone at random and she said, "Sure." Well, sure enough, this awesomely beautiful woman appears and we had an awesome fun time together that night. Up until that point, she easily qualified for The Dream Date of My Life.

The Brothers at the Madison Kappa Sig really laid heavy on the comfort food. It was some of the best food I ever had. There were more bratwurst that I ever imagined possible with all the German potato salad and trimmings and so forth. Some of my Brother just couldn't get enough so they stuffed their shirt pockets with bratwurst and potatoes. It made for quite a sight as we staggered back onto the bus for the long ride back to Lay-Flat, Indiana. Ah, those were The Daze!

http://www.uwgreek.com/frat/kappa_sigma.html

Otis Redding had recently died and so there was a somber tone to our visit. Of course, the somber tone didn't last long with The Endless Kegger. The red push pin is where his plane went down. Most everyone was humming or singing snippets of Redding's signature song.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Redding

(SITTIN' ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY

- written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper

- lyrics as recorded by Otis Redding December 7, 1967, just three

days before his death in a plane crash outside Madison, Wisconsin

- #1 for 4 weeks in 1968

Sittin' in the mornin' sun

I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come

Watching the ships roll in

And then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah

I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay

Watching the tide roll away

Ooo, I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay

Wastin' time

I left my home in Georgia

Headed for the 'Frisco bay

'Cause I've had nothing to live for

And look like nothin's gonna come my way

So I'm just gonna sit on the dock of the bay

Watching the tide roll away

Ooo, I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay

Wastin' time

Look like nothing's gonna change

Everything still remains the same

I can't do what ten people tell me to do

So I guess I'll remain the same, yes

Sittin' here resting my bones

And this loneliness won't leave me alone

It's two thousand miles I roamed

Just to make this dock my home

Now, I'm just gonna sit at the dock of the bay

Watching the tide roll away

Oooo-wee, sittin' on the dock of the bay

Wastin' time

Here's a YouTube of the song:

http://youtu.be/PyxLaHmOaYM

OK, enough "wastin' time" sittin' on the dock by the bay in Madison, Wisconsin!

The link below is actually a paid ad I found either in San Francisco or Seattle this morning. NO, I am NOT promoting the company's product. Not at all. I just found the content interesting. I also found the method of presentation very interesting as well.

http://blog.merrell.com/us/en/epic-trails/john-muir-trail/

Well, well, well. After weeks of seeing pure white over Arizona, now we see some green forecast during the next seven days. Imagine that. Here is what the Flagstaff NWS has to say about it this morning:

FOR MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...A LONG WAVE TROUGH WILL SET UP ACROSS
THE EASTERN PACIFIC AND WESTERN STATES NEXT WEEK WITH SEVERAL
DISTURBANCES MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA. THE FIRST SHOULD CROSS
ARIZONA MAINLY FROM EARLY WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY WITH MORE
WIND...COOLER TEMPERATURES AND A BETTER CHANCE OF SHOWERS. THE NEXT
SYSTEM FOLLOWS ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH YET ANOTHER CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND WINDY CONDITIONS. THE END OF THE WEEK SYSTEM WILL BE
ASSOCIATED WITH NORTHWESTERLY FLOW AND SURFACE WINDS ARE LIKELY TO BE LIGHTER.

Meanwhile, Seattle had its wettest March ON RECORD! Let that factoid sink in for a minute!

http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Seattle-logs-wettest-March-on-record-5359036.php

And, meanwhile, the rain situation in San Francisco:

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/joegarofoli/article/Rain-soaks-Bay-Area-with-more-coming-next-week-5360045.php