Summer's Coming. It's Time for the Watermelon Keg.

I had some watermelon over the weekend and it reminded of one of my favorite posts:
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Only in America: A guy is having a summer backyard bash and wants a vodka-infused watermelon. Pretty normal so far. But some weird light bulb pops up over his head and tells him to turn the watermelon into a cocktail keg. After 2 days of trial and error, he did. And it works. Watermelon-juice, vodka, and watermelon server with spout . . god, I love this country.

Want to see how he did it? I did.

http://blog.evite.com/evite/2007/09/end-of-summer-b.html

Random thoughts on three words . . .

I can't say the word, particularly.

I am envious of anyone who can pronounce it with ease. I say, par-tik'-ur-lee. When I attempt to say it correctly I fumble on the "u-ler-ly" part. Okay, this isn't earth shaking news -- but stick with me here, it gets even more meaningless. For instance...

Vestibule. It's a funny word, I think it's the"bule" part. I mention this because I was in an old theater last night and noticed a wall sign with an arrow pointing forward and the word Vestibule. My recollection of it goes back to around 6 years of age when I was told to stand in one before first Holy Communion. It is not a word we see these days, so after seeing it last night, I decided to look it up.

Vestibule or Vestibulum can have the following meanings, each primarily based upon a common origin, from early 17th century French, derived from Latin vestibulum, "entrance court".

I wonder if it has any connection to the Vestel virgins of ancient Rome. Etymologists and Wikipedians may reply.

Stimulus is a word we see and hear everywhere today. And I'm really tired of it. Banks are getting it, car companies are hoping for it, AIG abused it, the President supports it and Congress enacted it. You and I are yet to see the effects of it and if I had a dollar for everytime I have read it, I wouldn't need it.

Cartoons by Michael Ramirez at ibdeditorials.com

And the Winner is . . .

Fwtacoma was 6 for 6. Perfect.

If fwtacoma tells me the answers were given without any research, and sends me his or her email I will gladly send the prize.

The highest ranked fast food restaurants, in the correct order.

1. In-N-Out Burger, Irvine, Calif., 60%
2. Chick-fil-A, Atlanta, 55%
3. Panera Bread, St. Louis, 54%
4. Chipotle, Denver, 52%
5. Pei Wei, Scottsdale, Ariz., 51%
6. Qdoba, Wheat Ridge, Colo., 49%

Why am I suspicious?

Kimbell Acquires Earliest Michelangelo.

The Torment St Anthony

Michelangelo

Another reason to love Fort Worth? I think so. The Kimbell Art Museum is as good as they get, and considering the size of our city, you just can't ask for much more.

Here's a summary of the story pulled from the Fort Worth Business Press. Link following.

Long held in private hands, apart from isolated showings during the 19th and 20th centuries, The Torment of St. Anthony has been hailed, by turns, as both a prototypical Michelangelo and as a work of questionable pedigree. The consensus today holds with Michelangelo.

A 2008 Sotheby’s auction in London offered the painting in a preliminary range of $200,000-$300,000. Once the acceptance of authenticity had spread, a bidding frenzy surged to approximately $2 million, paid by a New York-based dealer named Adam Williams. Williams cinched the authenticity further with a regimen of X-ray examinations, which revealed alterations that can only belong to a primary-source work-in-progress.

The painting will settle into a permanent home at Fort Worth’s Kimbell following a showing during the summer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

http://www.fwbusinesspress.com/display.php?id=10198
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