The "House That Ruth Built,"

Babe Ruth receives a final accolade at Yankee Stadium in June, 1948, just two months before his death. The "Sultan of Swat" had set the new single-season home-run record of 60, breaking his old record at the site in 1927.

After acquiring Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox before the 1920 season, the New York Yankees set out to build a stadium. They bought 10 acres of land in the Bronx in 1921 from the estate of William Waldorf Astor for $675,000.

Two years and $2.5 million later, Yankee Stadium opened. Next season, the Yankees will open a $1.2-billion stadium and tear down the old one.

Tonight, baseball's elite return for the final All-Star game in the original "House That Ruth Built," and return to a place that has housed some of the most memorable moments in sports history.

The Bingham Canyon Mine in Utah -- it's the biggest

This is supposedly the largest man-made excavation on earth. Extraction began in 1863 and still continues today, the pit increasing in size constantly. In its current state the hole is ¾ miles deep and 2.5 miles wide. I wonder how much copper has been extracted from this mine ???

When did the ivy first appear on Wrigley Field's outfield wall?

1937. The original vines were bought and planted by famed baseball owner/promoter Bill Veeck, whose father had been the Cubs' president.

Cubs fans will get cemetery that looks like Wrigley Field

CHICAGO (AP) -- Finally, the perfect answer for a team that has been killing its fans for 100 years: A place to put their remains.

A Chicago man and Bohemian National Cemetery on the city's North Side are joining forces to build for Cubs fans a final resting place that looks a lot like the spot where they saw their dreams of a pennant die year after year.

Called "Beyond the Vines," the 24-foot long ivy-covered wall is designed to look like the one in dead center at Wrigley Field.

It's all on the drawing board now, but the wall is expected to be up and ready to accept fans in October -- just about the time Cubs fans are starting their annual mantra of "Wait till next year."

And when it does go up, Dennis Mascari the president of Fans Forever, Inc., says it will transform the cemetery experience, if not for the dead, at least for the living.

"When you come to a cemetery to visit a loved one it's usually a pretty sad, gloomy situation," he said, standing on the lawn where the wall will be erected. "But when you come here and visit (what looks like) his home away from home ... Wrigley Field, it's going to be a great feeling for people."

Mascari, 60, is envisioning something special. There will be a stained-glass scoreboard. And at each of the 280 niches in the wall -- "eternal skyboxes, that's what we call them," he says -- there will be an urn emblazoned with the Cubs logo.

Near each urn will be a bronze baseball card with a photograph of the deceased fan who, Mascari said, depending on the wishes of the family can be dressed up in a Cubs hat, Cubs jersey or full Cubs uniform. It could also include the dead fan's 'statistics' such as date of birth, date of death, and maybe their favorite Cubs game and favorite Cub.

There's even talk of piping in Cubs games on speakers so nobody, living or dead, will miss an inning. Not only that, but if this idea appeals to more than 280 Cubs fans, the cemetery has set aside enough land to add a right-field wall and a left-field wall.

The price tag for interment will cost as much as $5,000, the "grand slam" package that includes pick up of the body and delivery to Bohemian for cremation in its brand new $100,000 cremation oven, a service, and, of course, the baseball card plaque and urn.

But Mascari knows there are plenty of fans who have long since died and their remains are just sitting in urns somewhere, waiting for their own Field of Dreams. Interment of those ashes can cost as little as $1,200.

If this sounds, well, crazy, urns with the logo of the Cubs and other sports teams are already on the market and the maker of those urns -- Eternal Image -- says last year that Cubs urns accounted for 10 percent of their Major League urn sales.

And nobody who saw survivors of dead Cubs fans bring photographs to the 2003 playoffs will forget the sight of them trudging home, pictures under their arms, after the Cubs once again failed to reach the World Series.

Besides, Cubs fans have for years been scattering ashes of loved ones at Wrigley Field -- a tradition immortalized by the late singer-songwriter Steve Goodman, in whose "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request" an old man asks his own family to do just that at the "ivy-covered burial ground." Those ashes include some of Goodman's, scattered there by family and friends a year after his death.

That tradition reminds Mascari that his wall can offer something to fans they can't possibly get from having their ashes scattered on the outfield grass: Peace of mind.

"Last year the turf (at Wrigley) was removed," Mascari explained. "So something like this would make sure that fans would never have to worry about any turf being removed and put somewhere else."

Essential for CHIC camping

Bottega Venetta brings its signature weave to a fold-out camp stool. At $5,000 you'd hope a tent would be included. By special order, (310) 858-6533.

PEEKABOO KAYAK

Go ahead and take a peek! The Peekaboo is a unique design that adds a whole new dimension to your time on the water. In addition to great paddling performance, there is a large viewing window allowing you to look into the water while paddling. Made of high grade polycarbonate, the window is shatter-proof, scratch-resistant, and easily replaceable in the unlikely event it becomes damaged. It is positioned exactly where you naturally look, with a deep window well to reduce sun glare. The nose of the boat doubles as a kid’s jump seat, providing a perfect place for smaller paddlers wanting to tag along and take a peek into the underwater world. When paddling, a pronounced integral keel offers excellent tracking, while huge shoulders provided added stability. A roomy stern tank/gear well offers plenty of room for snorkel gear or a picnic lunch. Designed to fit most body types, the ergonomic seat well and Comfort Plus seat will have you sitting in style all day. The scupper hole drainage system makes for a dry ride, further increasing comfort. Easy-lift bow, stern, and side carry handles make transporting the boat a cinch, and the molded-in cup holder keeps your favorite beverage handy. With a large load capacity and great stability, the Peekaboo is the perfect choice for family fun on the water. It will give you a whole new view of paddling.

"The bridge over nothing

It's a bridge that has been disguised as a street for six decades.

True, it carries a sign that warns drivers not to carry overly heavy loads "on this bridge." But UCLA's Dickson Court bridge looks like just another road passing through, not over, an area of rolling lawns on the east side of campus. Students sit on its guardrails without fear because there is no drop.

Few know that the drop once was a five-story-deep ravine. The bridge, erected in 1927with picturesque Romanesque arches, was known as Arroyo Bridge and was the first structure built at UCLA. Truckloads of construction materials for the new UC campus were carried over it.

In 1947, the ravine was filled with thousands of cubic yards of dirt, burying the brick-enclosed arches and making way for new buildings.

Passers-by today have just a misleading, tip-of-the-iceberg view

A University ordered up by a King

THUWAL, SAUDI ARABIA -- Up the corniche, along a coast where boats carrying pilgrims bound for Mecca sailed for centuries, a thicket of cranes rises over whitewashed mosques along the Red Sea.

Steel flashes and blowtorches glow as 20,000 workers build a $10-billion university ordered up by a king who hopes Western ingenuity will revive the economy of this ultraconservative Muslim nation. When finished next year, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology will offer coed classes, Western professors, a curriculum in English and other touches loathed as dangerous liberalism by Islamic fundamentalists.

"Springer Spaniel playing in snow"

Adrian Russen took this shot with his Sony Cybershot p72

"Icing sugar snow by the Taff"

The low sun and long shadows made James Blight glad he had his camera handy this winter's morning in Cardiff. He used a Nikkon Coolpix 3700.

The world-famous Chrysler Building is sold

New York City: The world-famous Chrysler Building on New York City's Lexington Avenue was today sold to the Dusseldorf-based company GVP. A company spokesman said they were buying the skyscraper for an investment fund. All shares will be sold to German investors. According to GVP, 828 million Deutschmarks (about $395 million U.S.) were raised for the building. Chrysler Building was previously owned by Tishman Speyer Properties.

The Dynamic Tower that constantly changes shape

NEW YORK CITY-When Italian architect Dr. David Fisher today revealed the launch of the Dynamic Tower at the Plaza Hotel here, the world’s first building in motion, to be constructed in Dubai and Moscow, he revealed that the third tower will be located in New York City. Although he did not reveal specifics about the Manhattan rotating tower, he said he was already in talks with developers.

Rotating Tower Dubai Development Ltd. headed by the Dynamic Group is the developer of the $700 million, 80-floor Dubai tower, which is entirely self-powered. The building will be 1,380-feet tall and apartments will range in size from 1,334 sf to Villas or Penthouses of 12,916 sf, complete with a parking space inside the apartment. Fisher told the audience that the building, which generates electricity from wind turbines mounted horizontally between each floor, will begin construction in the next few months.

The second Dynamic Tower revealed is planned for Moscow and is now in the advanced design phase, with pre-assembling of the units to start soon and completion scheduled for 2010. The developer is the Mirax Group, headed by Sergei Polonsky. Fisher told the audience that the construction cost of the Moscow tower--which will have 70 floors and be 1,310-feet tall--is $400 million.

"Our intention is to build the third Rotating Skyscraper in New York," Fisher stated. "Additional Dynamic Towers will be built around the world, following an expression of interest from developers, governments, and public officials to construct a Dynamic Tower in Canada, Germany, Italy, Korea and Switzerland."

Fisher explained that the Dynamic Tower has infinite design possibilities, as each floor rotates independently to create a building that constantly changes shape, resulting in a unique and ever evolving architectural structure.

BEIJING OLYMPICS 2008 PREVIEW

Workers catch fish to reduce the population in a manmade lake around the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing. The workers are doing so as the water has become turbid due to overpopulation of fish in the lake.
REUTERS/Jason Lee (CHINA)

The Return of the Alfa Romeo

Where are the hot-cool small cars, the drive-all-night cars, the pair of dice-on-the-mirror cars?

Where they've always been: In Europe. Here's a look at the Alfa Romeo MiTo roaring back with style.

"Larry, Moe and curly fries: It’s the American way of life "

Kevin O’Keefe has a thing or two to say about the average citizen.

The average American can name all Three Stooges but not all three branches of the federal government. He lives within three miles of a McDonald’s, he has no ambition to be famous and he prefers whole milk to other kinds.

And O’Keefe, author of “The Average American: The Extraordinary Search for the Nation’s Most Ordinary Citizen,” is just warming up.

For years, O’Keefe held high-profile jobs in the sports and entertainment industries. He worked on countless national marketing and public relations campaigns, all designed to reach the average American. Over time, O’Keefe began to wonder whether he knew who that was.

“I really felt I had this need to understand the average American, whomever he or she was,” O’Keefe says.

So he went on a quest. After collecting facts from every credible source he could find (government agencies, polling firms, research organizations and other media), O’Keefe began traveling and interviewing his fellow Americans. He crisscrossed the country for more than two years, research book in hand, trying to create a portrait of the average American.

As he did so, he made an interesting discovery. “We have these impressions that in some cases are left over from years and years ago, like the impression that someone who is an average American lives on a farm in Middle America,” O’Keefe says. “Well, the last time that most Americans lived in rural areas was about 100 years ago. Most average Americans live in metropolitan areas.”

Armed with his statistics, O’Keefe says, he was able to “knock down many of the myths about Americans.”

“We have this image that the average American is lacking in smarts,” O’Keefe says, “but in this country, the average IQ scores have increased three points per decade since nationwide IQ testing began in the 1920s.”

Here are a few other things he learned:

* Sixty percent of Americans live in the state in which they were born.

* The average American believes nature is sacred or spiritual but spends 95% of his time indoors.

* The average American buys 800 gallons of gas a year and consumes 55 gallons of soft drinks a year.

* Sixty percent of Americans eat peanut butter at least once a week, and the average American eats three pounds of it a year.

* Americans spend over $100 more a year on footwear than on vegetables.

* The average American shower lasts 10.4 minutes.

* Sixty-nine percent of Americans go to the movies at least once a year.

Use the SUN to Keep Your Cool

TOKYO -- Toyota's Prius gas-electric hybrid will become even greener next year with solar-powered air conditioning on some high-end models, Japanese business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Monday.

The solar panels on the roof of the new Prius model will provide 2 to 5 kilowatts of electricity, the newspaper said in a report without citing sources.

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to purchase the panels from Japanese electronics maker Kyocera Corp., the newspaper said.

Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco declined to comment.

A Toyota executive, speaking on condition of anonymity because product plans are not supposed to be disclosed to the media ahead of time, has said details on what would be a third-generation Prius probably would be revealed in May of next year.

Sales of the Prius have been booming as a result of soaring gasoline prices and growing worries about global warming. A hybrid delivers better mileage by switching between a gasoline-fueled engine and an electric motor.

Toyota has made hybrid technology the pillar of its growth strategy, promising to deliver hybrids in every model in its lineup soon after 2020. Toyota has sold more than 1 million Prius models over the last decade and is planning to sell 1 million hybrids a year sometime after 2010.

Toyota is also pursuing an aggressive strategy for ecologically sound production by using solar panels and other technology at its plants.

Adding solar panels to a model targeting mass consumers would mark a first for a major automaker, said the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, widely known as the Nikkei.

ABBA is as it was

Despite the astonishing success of the stage musical "Mamma Mia!," ABBA has ruled out any reunion tour.

Songwriters Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of the Swedish pop quartet told Britain's Sunday Telegraph that ABBA will never perform together again.

Ulvaeus said "money is not a factor and we would like people to remember us as we were. Young, exuberant, full of energy and ambition."

ABBA, one of the biggest bands of the 1970s, split in 1982 but continues to sell nearly 3 million records a year. The group also included singers Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

From the Associated Press

"Its a blimp on steroids"

CALGARY — A private Calgary company and the world's biggest aircraft maker plan to build a "blimp on steriods" - an airship filled with helium and powered by big rotors that can be used to haul heavy equipment to remote areas where there are no roads, including northern Canada.

Calgary's SkyHook International Inc. announced Tuesday it is teaming up with Chicago-based Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) to build the so-called Jess Heavy Lifter, or JHL-40, which will haul steel, huge trucks and other equipment in remote areas where ground transportation may not be an option.

The SkyHook JHL-40 heavy-lift rotorcraft looks like a blimp with four helicopter-like rotors underneath and will be able to lift a 40-tonne load slung from its belly and carry it 300 kilometres without refuelling.

That's a big advantage in the Arctic, where the costs of developing oil and gas projects and diamond and base metal mines have soared because of the need to build roads or provide expensive airplane access to remote communities.

Boeing and SkyHook hope to have the first JHL-40 in service by 2012.

An artist's rendidtion of the new Skyhook aircraft is illustrated in this Boeing handout photo shown above.

Eco-friendly buildings help shrink costs

For 63 years they loved him in Cincinnati

Flowers and other memoirs lie at the base of a statue of former Cincinnati Reds pitcher and broadcaster Joe Nuxhall at Great American Park Friday, Nov. 16, 2007. Nuxhall died following a bout with cancer. He was 79.

Joe Nuxhall was the youngest player ever to appear in a major league game in the modern era, pitching 2/3 of an inning for the Reds on June 10, 1944 at the age of 15years, 316 days due to player shortages during World War II. Long known as "The Ol' Lefthander," he compiled a career earned run average of 3.90 and a record of 135-117 during his 16-season career, with all but 5 of his victories being earned with the Reds. After retiring as a player, he became a broadcaster for the Reds from 1967 through 2004.

Ernie Banks --- "Mr. Cub"

Outside of Wrigley Field in Chicago, a statue of Hall of Fame shortstop Ernie Banks is emblazoned with his famous saying: "Let's play two"
April 5, 2008

Enos "Country" Slaughter --- nobody played harder !!!

St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter checks out his statue at Busch Stadium depicting him scoring the winning run in the 1946 World Series.
July 18, 1999

The Tragedy Everyone Remembers

Mary Decker Slaney deserved better than to have her running career defined by a fall, even if it was maybe the most memorable tumble in sports history.

She deserved better than to stumble from grace.

But fate intervened, the greatest middle-distance runner in U.S. women's track and field history collided with Zola Budd at the Coliseum in 1984 and an indelible Olympic moment was embedded in the public consciousness.

"A living nightmare," America's former running sweetheart later called the split-second entanglement that knocked her from the 3,000-meter final.

Nearly a quarter-century later, dyed-in-the-wool U.S. track nuts probably couldn't name all the track and field gold medalists from the Los Angeles Games, Slaney says, but even little old ladies still recognize the woman who tripped. "Oh, yeah," Slaney says they tell her, "you were the one that fell over."

Mary Decker Slaney, the only runner, male or female, to set U.S. records at every distance from 800 meters to 10,000 meters: "I think it's flattering that people still remember."

Married since January 1985 to Richard Slaney, a British Olympic discus thrower who carried her from the Coliseum infield Aug. 10, 1984, the former Mary Decker is happily ensconced in Eugene, Ore., and refreshingly resigned to her unfortunate place in Olympic history. The Slaneys, whose daughter Ashley Lynn graduated last month from UC San Diego, share a 55-acre spread on the edge of town with three Weimaraners -- Cleo, Athena and Ranger -- and five cats.

"I garden," Slaney says of her No. 1 chore and favorite activity. "We have a lot of property and we take care of it mostly ourselves, so that's what I spend a lot of time doing, which I love because I'm outside."

The World's Largest Salt Water Plunge

This 1916 postcard proclaims the Redondo Beach Bath House the world's largest salt water plunge. Four-stories high and Moorish in style, it housed three pools heated by Pacific Light and Power's steam plant (originally built to generate electricity for the Red Cars). A tower, two diving boards, and a trapeze were features of the large main pool. It was located on the beach, between the ends of the Horseshoe Pier, where a parking structure stands today. Henry Huntington built the plunge in 1909 with steam and Turkish baths and more than 1,000 dressing rooms. The complex could accommodate 2,000 bathers at a time. For more than 30 years the plunge was a major West Coast attraction. I believe the bath house was torn down in 1942 or 1943.

Mark VII will traverse the system’s 2.5-mile route using coaches with remodeled nose cones, seats facing outward and blue glass with stripes.

Those yearning to ride Disneyland's long-awaited new monorail found they had to hang on a little longer Saturday. The Mark VII, which had appeared off and on late in the week, never made it out of its shelter, to the dismay of some visitors hoping to step aboard.

The Mark VII, otherwise known as Monorail Red, is the seventh generation of the ride that's been entertaining visitors since 1959 when it made its entry as the nation's first electric train system on a single rail.

Sleek and futuristic, it was promoted as a vision for public transportation.

On Saturday the long-awaited new train, the park's only upgrade of the attraction in 21 years, failed to appear after several hours of on-again, off-again operation over the previous two days.

Disney officials attributed the glitches to the attraction's normal "test and adjust" period, when mechanics and designers work out the bugs.

Joe Sykora of Woodland Hills spotted a banner hanging from a vet's office that indicated that humans aren't the only beings with intimacy problems. The banner reads:

***********************************************************

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> We Treat <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

>>>>>>>>>> "Reptile Dysfunction" <<<<<<<<<<

>>>>>> Call 225-7160 For Appointment <<<<<<

************************************************************

Who knew that snakes, lizards and turtles had such human-like problems ?

Do they have their own T V commercials ? ?

(From Steve Harvey's column "Only In L. A." in today's Los Angeles Times. A picture of the banner is included in the print edition.)

The Face in Piazza San Marco

When Swiss tennis pro Roger Federer signed an endorsement deal with Rolex in 2006, who would have expected that it would change the face of the fabled St. Mark's square in Venice? But this summer, while he slugged it out at Wimbledon, Federer's face has obscured most of the façade of the Sansovino Library, a Renaissance landmark described by the 16th century architect Andrea Palladio as the "richest and most decorated building" ever created. Never mind the winged lion or St. Theodore and his crocodile on top of their antique columns nearby.

Roger has dreamy brown eyes and a very cool watch.

What's next? Beckham on the basilica, modeling Armani underwear? -- Susan Spano

Hitler Decapitated

BERLIN (Reuters) - A man tore the head from a controversial waxwork figure of Adolf Hitler on the opening day of Berlin's Madame Tussauds museum on Saturday, police said.

Just minutes after the museum opened, the 41-year-old German man pushed aside two security men guarding the figure before ripping off the head in protest at the exhibit, a police spokesman said. The police were alerted and arrested the man.

The waxwork figure of a glum-looking Adolf Hitler in a mock bunker during the last days of his life was criticized as being in bad taste. A media preview of the new branch of Madame Tussauds on Thursday was overshadowed by a row over the exhibit.

Critics said it was inappropriate to display the Nazi dictator, who started World War Two and ordered the extermination of Europe's Jews, in a museum alongside celebrities, pop stars, world statesmen and sporting heroes.

Dressed in a grey suit, the figure of Hitler gazed downwards with a despondent stare, his arm outstretched on a large wooden table with a map of Europe on the wall of his gloomy bunker.

About 25 workers spent about four months on the waxwork, using more than 2,000 pictures and pieces of archive material and also guided by a model of the "Fuehrer" in the London branch of Madame Tussauds where he is standing upright.

It is illegal in Germany to show Nazi symbols and art glorifying Hitler and the exhibit was cordoned off to stop visitors posing with him.

Unobtrusive signs asked visitors to refrain from taking photos or posing with Hitler "out of respect for the millions of people who died during World War Two." Camera surveillance and museum officials were meant to stop inappropriate behavior.

A quitter he's NOT

Kent Couch is at it again. While the rest of the country was sleeping off Fourth of July revels on Saturday, he and a host of volunteers were up before the sun at his gas station in Bend, Ore., to blow up 150 giant latex party balloons and tie them with clothesline to his lawn chair for his third try at flying to Idaho.

Couch, 48, was inspired to go up, up, and away by a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles by truck driver Larry Walters, who gained urban myth immortality and had a play written about him, but was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.

Couch made his first ascent in 2006, staying up six hours before shooting out a few balloons with his pellet gun to descend. But he had to jump to earth in his parachute because he was coming down too fast. He never got that lawn chair back.

Last year, he flew 193 miles before running low on helium and landing in sagebrush near Union in northeast Oregon. The flights have gotten him on national TV, but that's not what drives him.

"There is this desire if you've ever had a cluster of balloons in your hand and just imagine yourself floating up in the air," Couch said. This year Couch made it to Cambridge, Idaho, about 235 miles across the Oregon desert. He touched down in a field by popping balloons with his Red Ryder BB gun. He also had a blow gun with steel darts and a parachute just in case.


See related story below (I hope it too had a happy ending)

Priest attached to party balloons vanishes in Brazil

Roman Catholic priest Adelir Antonio de Carli gives an interview before floating off using party balloons filled with helium in Brazil on Sunday. Carli was reported missing off the coast of Santa Catarina state hours after taking off on an attempt to break the 19-hour record for the longest flight with balloons.
(Renita Pelissari / Agencia O Globo)
April 22, 2008

A Founding Father's View of God and Faith

Making good on a promise to a friend to summarize his views on Christianity, Thomas Jefferson set to work with scissors, snipping out every miracle and inconsistency he could find in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Then, relying on a cut-and-paste technique, he reassembled the excerpts into what he believed was a more coherent narrative and pasted them onto blank paper -- alongside translations in French, Greek and Latin.

In a letter sent from Monticello to John Adams in 1813, Jefferson said his "wee little book" of 46 pages was based on a lifetime of inquiry and reflection and contained "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."

He called the book "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth." Friends dubbed it the Jefferson Bible. It remains perhaps the most comprehensive expression of what the nation's third president and principal author of the Declaration of Independence found ethically interesting about the Gospels and their depiction of Jesus.

The little leather-bound tome, several facsimiles of which are kept at the Huntington Library in San Marino, continues to fascinate scholars exploring the powerful and varied relationships between the Founding Fathers and the most sacred book of the Western World.

"The Heights of Lady Liberty."

NEW YORK (AP) - The National Park Service is considering reopening Lady Liberty's crown for the first time since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to documents a congressman released on July Fourth.

The park service requested bids last month to study what it would take to safely open the Statue of Liberty's iconic headpiece to the public, according to documents released by U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y.

Liberty Island was closed after the terrorist attacks. The statue's base, pedestal and lower observation deck reopened in August 2004, after a $20 million effort to enhance fire safety.

But the crown and its interior observation deck, which soar about 265 feet above New York Harbor, remained closed because the Park Service said there was no way to evacuate them safely in an emergency. The narrow spiral staircase that leads up to the crown doesn't comply with fire and building codes.

Visitors are now limited to the statue's 154-foot-tall pedestal.

Weiner, a member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, helped arrange a congressional hearing in September on reopening the crown.

He said keeping the observation deck shuttered hurts the city's economy: Since the crown closed, the number of visitors to Lady Liberty has dropped 44 percent, from 3.6 million in 2000 to 2.5 million in 2006.

"The bureaucracy which had stubbornly refused to open the crown is finally moved in the right direction," Weiner said Friday. "Today's news means that America is one step closer to providing what everyone wants: safe access to the heights of Lady Liberty."


The crown is the only National Park Service site that hasn't reopened since the 2001 attacks. The Park Service oversees such sites as the Washington Monument and Mount Rushmore.

A gift from France to the United States, the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

Two Champions Square Off

American Joey Chestnut (above center)has reclaimed his crown at the annual hot dog-eating contest in New York with an absorbing overtime victory over his Japanese arch rival Takeru Kobayashi (above left).

After first tying with Kobayashi in a 10-minute chow-down, Chestnut then prevailed in a five-dog eat-off.

The pair tied at 59 frankfurters in 10 minutes, before being made to gobble another five dogs in a last-minute tiebreaker. They consumed 64 hot dogs total and were looking quite peaked after the competition.

Kobayashi had hoped to win back the title after a disappointing three-dog loss last year shattered his six-year winning streak.

"He wanted it, but I needed it," said a delighted Chestnut said of his diminutive Japanese rival.

Thousands gathered at Coney Island on US Independence Day to watch the glutinous gladiators compete in the annual event held since 1916.

Chestnut emerged victorious for the second year in a row, beating 20 others to claim the $10,000 first prize and the coveted mustard-yellow belt along with perhaps a little indigestion.

A sensationalized murder trial inspires "The Fugitive"

Marilyn Sheppard is beaten to death inside her suburban home in Cleveland, Ohio. Her husband, Dr. Sam Sheppard, claimed to have fallen asleep in the family's living room and awakened to find a man with bushy hair fleeing the scene. The authorities, who uncovered the fact that Dr. Sheppard had been having an affair, did not believe his story and charged him with killing his pregnant wife.

Creating a national sensation, the media invaded the courtroom and printed daily stories premised on Sheppard's guilt. The jurors, who were not sequestered, found Sheppard guilty. Arguing that the circumstances of the trial had unfairly influenced the jury, Sheppard appealed to the Supreme Court and got his conviction overturned in 1966. Yet, despite the fact that Sheppard had no previous criminal record, many still believed that he was responsible for his wife's murder.

The Sheppard case brought to light the issue of bias within the court system. Jurors are now carefully screened to ensure that they have not already come to a predetermined conclusion about a case in which they are about to hear. In especially high-profile cases, jurors can be sequestered so that they are not exposed to outside media sources. However, most judges simply order jurors not to watch news reports about the case, and rely on them to honor the order.

Sheppard's case provided the loose inspiration for the hit television show The Fugitive, in which the lead character, Richard Kimble, is falsely accused of killing his wife, escapes from prison, and pursues the one-armed man he claimed to have seen fleeing the murder scene.

In 1998, DNA tests on physical evidence found at Sheppard's house revealed that there had indeed been another man at the murder scene. Sheppard's son, who had pursued the case long after his father's death in order to vindicate his reputation, sued the state for wrongful imprisonment in 2000, but lost.

A taste of heaven here on earth

JULIA PFEIFFER BURNS STATE PARK: An oasis of incredible beauty, this state park is considered one of the most outstanding cliff/beach camping sites anywhere in Central and Southern California. Located on a small peninsula with a forested hilltop cliff, overlooking turquoise water, sandy beaches with unique rock formations, and this park over looks the strikingly beautiful Pacific. Unfortunately, this park only has two environmental camp spots that are in heavy demand and must be reserved well in advance, as the site is on some of the most spectacular coastline in all of California. There is also a 1,680-acre underwater reserve protecting a remarkable collection of marine life.

Sometimes it's the wrong person who gets locked up

A suburban Chicago man locked his two young daughters in a wire cage hidden in the back of his pickup truck because he didn't have a baby-sitter, officials said.

Ricardo Gonzalez, 35, of Midlothian was arrested Monday after a woman at a gas station in Posen heard a crying child and spotted him pushing small hands back into the cage, police said.

Gonzalez told police he wanted to keep the girls, ages 2 and 5, from running away.

Maybe they had good reason for running away.

Without missing a beat . . .

General Motors Corp., which popularized the 7,800-pound Hummer, may begin selling a mini-car more than a foot shorter than anything else it markets in the U.S. to win back customers.

GM may bring the production version of the Chevrolet Beat to the U.S., people familiar with the plan said. The car, which would normally be reserved for markets such as Asia and Latin America, gets as much as 40 miles per gallon, a fuel efficiency topped in the U.S. only by hybrids.

Resigned to $4-a-gallon gasoline and stricter pollution rules, the largest U.S. automaker has recognized that its response must go beyond simply closing factories that make big pickup trucks.

"This is a very big change for GM," said John Wolkonowicz, an analyst at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Mass. "They have no choice. There's never been as rapid a shift in consumer demand in the history of the auto industry."

GM, which turns 100 this year, has few options to reinventing itself. The company reported its largest annual loss in 2007, $38.7 billion, after a tax accounting change, and hasn't had a profitable year since 2004. Its U.S. market share hovers at the lowest level since 1925. GM last year was 3,000 vehicles away from being dethroned by Toyota Motor Corp. as the world's largest carmaker.

The company's current market value is smaller than that of Mattel Inc., maker of Matchbox cars, and a 10th of what it was in 2000.

Besides the Beat, GM is weighing a list of options for refocusing its auto lineup on fuel efficiency rather than performance. They include the U.S. introduction of a small pickup popular in Latin America.

Almost all gone but something lives within us

One of my all-time favorite movies is "The Magnificent Seven", John Sturges and William Roberts' apocraphal and marvelously pivotal 'western' which glorifies the willingness of men of strength to suffer that others may live peacefully.

The movie was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's 1954 masterpiece, "Shichinin no Samurai" (The Seven Samurai).

The Magnificent Seven were played by:
Yul Brynner - Chris Adams
Steve McQueen - Vin
Brad Dexter - Harry Luck
Charles Bronson - Bernardo O'Reilly
Robert Vaughn - Lee
Horst Buchholz - Chico
James Coburn - Britt

And, of course, the villain's role was played magnificently by Eli Wallach as Calvera. Out of this stellar cast only Eli Wallach and Robert Vaughn have survived.

Yul Brynner - Chris Adams: died of cancer in 1985 of cancer at the age of 65
Steve McQueen - Vin: died of cancer in 1980 at the age of 50
Brad Dexter - Harry Luck: again, died of emphasema in 2002 at the age of 85
Charles Bronson - Bernardo O'Reilly: died of Pneumonia in 2003 at the age of 81
Rogert Vaughn - Lee: Born in 1932, now aged 75, he is still Alive
Horst Buchholz - Chico: died in 2003, at the age of 63, of Pneumonia
James Coburn - Britt: died in 2002, at the age of 74, of heart attack

Eli Wallach (Calvera) was born in 1915, Wallach is now a robust NINTY-TWO YEARS OLD and has survived 6 of the seven "Magnificent Ones".


"The Magnificent Seven" was shot in 1960. The photo above shows Calvera after being shot in the chest in a shoot-out with Yul Brynner; he dies shortly afterwards while talking to Yul. His final words were:

"You came back, a man like you, why? why?"

His was a performance that one can never forget.

"George Washington Slept Here"

Artist’s rendering of the Washington family’s house at Ferry Farm in Stafford County, Va., circa 1738. Artist Leslie Barker painted the illustration using an architectural drawing based on information generated from archaeological excavation, historical records and standing 18th-century houses in the region. The drawing was made by architect Mark Wenger of Mesick, Cohen, Wilson, Baker, Architects, of Williamsburg, Va. (Credit: Copyright George Washington Foundation)

(http://lhbarkerstudio.com/George%20Washinton%27s%20Ferry%20Farm.htm)

"The Art of Faux Cal Living"

The Americana at Brand is part high-end retail, part pricey residential. (Rents start at a little more than two grand.) There is also a heaping dose of Vegas glam, a handsome streetcar and a patch of grass in the middle that the security guards don't want you to walk on, at least during the week.

This $400-million development isn't Greenwich Village, to be sure, Jackson Square or even Lincoln Park. Yet, Caruso's latest vision helps give L.A. the thing that everyone says is most missing: somewhere to share an evening.

WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM

Canadian Robert Bateman's acrylic on canvas titled "Chief," (1997), is one of the most popular pieces on display at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Mass-Produced and All-Electric

The company that built the first mass-produced, all-electric car will keep its manufacturing plant in California, thanks to a new tax break.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer worked out the deal for Tesla Motors Inc. after learning that the Silicon Valley company intended to build its second-generation vehicle in New Mexico.

The financial break, announced Monday, allows Tesla to avoid paying state sales tax on equipment it buys to build its Model S. That will save the company 7% to 9% on each purchase.

The five-passenger sedan is expected to cost about $60,000. The company said it would be able to travel 225 miles between charges to its electric engine.

Schwarzenegger says it drove him "absolutely insane" to learn Tesla planned to take its environmentally friendly technology to another state.

The governor was among several celebrities who lined up to buy Tesla's first-generation electric sports car, the Roadster, which has a base price of $109,000.

The Roadster, which is now in production, goes from zero to 60 mph in just under four seconds and tops out at 125 mph, according to the company's website. The batteries take 3 1/2 hours to recharge when depleted.

Schwarzenegger is awaiting delivery of his Roadster.

Tesla's decision to remain in California is unfortunate, said Fred Mondragon, secretary of New Mexico's Economic Development Department. He said several European companies were eager to take advantage of New Mexico's economic incentives for companies that develop clean energy.