First Day of Spring

Today is the first day of spring, hoo-rah, except in Australia, where it is the first day of autumn. In keeping with the world wide economic crapfest, Australia is on sale. You can enjoy something called a "One Week Walkabout" for $299. You need to get there yourself, so add airfare or kayak cost or however you plan to travel.

$299 will just about cover one day in the Dells, by the way.

Here's the Australia site, we'll look at the legend of the Dells later.

http://www.australia.com/promotions/oneweekwalkabout_us.aspx?ta_cid=redirect:us:oneweekwalkabout

Bye, Edie

Wisteria Lane, that kooky little strip of TV America, is planning to say bon soir to the tartalicious Edie Brit. According to no less an authority than her killer-to-be, her Wisteria Lane husband, Dave Williams, Edie gonna get whacked in the woods on Sunday night.

I found Edie to be the least compelling character at the outset. As the series has meandered on and reinvented itself and removed characters and introduced characters and fast forwarded five years and --pause for breath here (and reflect on how goofy this show has become)--I've become an Edie fan.

Brie is controlling and emasculating. Gabby is self centered and demanding. Susan is an idiot. Lynette is ok. The old China Beach woman, whatever her name is, she's ok, too. But Edie, Edie is pure.

Pure self indulgent trampy be-otch. The same thing she has been since the beginning.

So we bid Edie adieu, and with great amazement. I am amazed--and a little bit ashamed-- that I remembered all those characters' names.

One Trillion Dollars

This is very stunning, and every American should see it.

http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html

It's your tab.

St. Patrick's Day

Factoids today, beginning with:

St. Patrick

• Born in Britain
• Kidnapped at age 16 by Irish raiders and held captive in Ireland
• He was a shepherd in Ireland, quite solitary
• Escaped back to Britain after 6 years
• Studied 15 years and became a priest, then went back to Ireland as a missionary
• Began converting the Irish to Christianity, although there was already a small number of Christians on the island
• St. Patrick's Day is the date he is believed to have died, around the year 460
• The driving the snakes out of Ireland legend is a myth

St. Patrick's Day

• An Irish religious holiday, church in the morning and dinner in the afternoon
• For dinner: Irish bacon and cabbage
• Until the 1970's, pubs were closed on St. Pat's Day in Ireland

St. Patrick's Day Parade

• First one held in New York City in 1762
• It was Irish soldiers serving in the English military
• There were numerous parades held annually until 1848, when the various Irish aide societies combined to sponsor the parade, now the longest running in the country.

Enjoy the day!

Making the Point

On March 16, 1802, Congress approved legislation establishing the United States Military Academy at West Point, one of the oldest military service academies in the world. Strategically located on the west bank of the Hudson River approximately fifty miles north of New York City, West Point was first garrisoned in January 1778 and is the oldest continuously occupied military post in America. George Washington transferred his headquarters there in 1779 as a Revolutionary War outpost. In 1780, Benedict Arnold, then in command of the post, tried unsuccessfully to betray it to the British.