PGA Tour Quiz: Going into this week”s tour event, who are the
Top Ten money leaders this year? [Hint: Two are foreign.]
Answer below.
Teddy Bear
I must say I was embarrassed when I read a Smithsonian
magazine story by Wendy Mitman Clarke and realized I didn”t
know the full story behind the origins of the teddy bear. So,
assuming I”m not alone, I offer it up to you.
In November 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt took a break
from a political trip down near Smedes, Mississippi to go bear
hunting with some local officials. Back then guides used bear
hounds to track down the bruins while the hunters would follow
on horseback. The man running the dog pack was Holt Collier, a
former slave who had been a sharpshooter for the Confederacy
during the Civil War.
Collier”s dogs had been tracking one particular bear it seemed for
hours when he directed TR to wait in a clearing for the animal to
appear. But after a while, the president tired of it all and decided
to return to camp nearby.
Soon after the bear emerged at the clearing and turned on the
dogs, killing one while threatening another. But before the bear
could wreak further havoc, Collier smacked it with his rifle butt,
knocking the bear out. Collier then blew a horn, signaling the
camp that they had captured the quarry.
Collier tied the groggy bear to a tree, but when Roosevelt dashed
up and saw the condition that it was in there was no way he
could shoot it, so he asked a companion to put the animal out of
its misery with a knife.
A few days later Clifford Berryman had a cartoon in the
Washington Post depicting a president recoiling at the thought of
killing a defenseless bear. In subsequent cartoons the bear
appeared smaller and cuter, and Berryman would begin to make the
bear a staple of all his drawings.
As for who then made the first teddy bear (1903), it”s basically a
tossup between two people, Morris Michtom who founded the
Ideal Novelty and Toy Co. in New York, or Richard Steiff (you
all have a Steiff animal lying around I”m sure), who at the same
time was showing a new jointed bear at the Leipzig Toy Fair.
And now you know.the rest of the story.
Barry Bonds
On Wednesday Bonds tied Mark McGwire”s 1998 N.L. record
for walks in a single season, 162, leaving Bonds 8 shy of the
major league mark established by Babe Ruth back in 1923.
More importantly, Bonds sits at 67 home runs with 9 games to
play. Here at StocksandNews we are still praying he pulls a
hammie on Friday night.
Cam Cole, a commentator for the National Post of Canada,
remarked the other day that Todd McFarlane must be one
unhappy camper these days. It was McFarlane, the creator of the
Spawn comic book, who spent $millions on McGwire”s 70th
home run ball, one which threatens to become a $3mm
“doorstop.”
As for Bonds himself, Cole comments, “Not much about the
sports world has seemed to matter very much in the last two
weeks, but we might have raised our heads to steal a nightly
morsel of guilt-ridden pleasure, if only the figure who emerged
from the mist to mount the chase in the final days of the baseball
season had been more human.”
“Instead, we have Barry Bonds, the ultimate Me guy, playoff
underachiever, dislike by teammates, criticized for his posing
and lack of hustle, shunned by the press – in short, a living,
breathing cautionary tale of what happens to a sports star who
spends a career pissing on his fellow man, and gets it all over
himself.”
A Canadian”s Reaction to the Attack
By now you”ve all undoubtedly received about 20 copies of
Gordon Sinclair”s commentary concerning what the rest of the
world owes America. It”s a super piece, especially considering
that it was written in 1973.when attitudes towards this country
were quite different than from today.
From time to time Harry K., who lives near Toronto, and I have
exchanged notes on the sad plight of the Canadian military. And
with all of the terrorists running around up North, the lack of an
ability to prevent and respond not only to attacks, but also to the
aftermath, would appear to be scandalous. For example, Major
General Lewis MacKenzie says the Canadian army could field
only about 1,200-1,400 combat ready troops, plus the military
doesn”t even have a capability to get them anywhere, i.e., they”d
have to hitch a ride on US transport craft.
Harry, who hangs his hat at a leading financial information
organization, recently commented on not only the state of his
nation”s armed forces, but also the disgraceful political
leadership of Prime Minister Chretien on down.
“I find it insulting that the federal government has handled the
(terrorist attack) in such a cavalier way. When your closest ally,
biggest trading partner, and yes, your best friend among the
nations of the world, under whose defense umbrella you”ve been
happy to sit, and whom you”ve slagged for years to make cheap
political capital, is in trouble, you help. Immediately,
unconditionally, without reservation, and not after waiting for a
day or two to see which way the political wind is blowing. Now,
trying to play catch up to his ”Third Way” ideal, Prime Minister
Tony Blair, Chretien has committed the Canadian armed forces
to tasks they cannot safely carry out. It”s an insult to the
thousands of men and women who served with pride and
distinction in the Canadian military. It”s an insult to those who
serve today. It”s an insult to the taxpayer. It”s an insult to our
American friends and neighbors. Next the prime minister will be
looking to broker a Lloyd Axworthy style ”negotiated settlement”
with bin Laden and the Taliban (not to mention the Provisional
IRA, the Tamil Tigers, Al Fatah, Hizbollah and the myriad other
terrorist organizations that have fund raising fronts here in
Canada), and use us as a great place to set up terrorist attacks and
easily obtain passorts. Many of these front organizations also get
grants from various levels of government. This is called support
for ”Multiculturalism,” and if you question it you are instantly
branded as a racist. Mr. Chretien seems to be preparing for a
new role as the Neville Chamberlain of the New Millennium.
Oh! Canada!”
H.G. Wells
Wells wrote “The War of the Worlds” way back in 1898. My
brother recently reread the classic, and passed along a passage
from the epilogue which is remarkable for its foresight (as was
much of what Wells wrote), given today”s times.
“At any rate, whether we expect another invasion or not, our
views of the human future must be greatly modified by these
events. We have learned now that we cannot regard this planet
as being fenced in and a secure abiding place for Man; we can
never anticipate the unseen good or evil that may come upon us
suddenly out of space. It may be that in the larger design of the
universe this invasion from Mars is not without its ultimate
benefit for men; it has robbed us of that serene confidence in the
future which is the most fruitful source of decadence, the gifts to
human science it has brought are enormous, and it has done
much to promote the conception of the commonweal of mankind.
It may be that across the immensity of space the Martians have
watched the fate of these pioneers of theirs and learned their
lesson, and that on the planet Venus they have found a securer
settlement. Be that as it may, for many years yet there will
certainly be no relaxation of the eager scrutiny of the Martian
disk, and those fiery darts of the sky, the shooting stars, will
bring with them as they fall an unavoidable apprehension to all
the sons of men.”
Burpee
On a slightly less intense note, Burpee seed company is
celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. It was W. Atlee
Burpee who founded it as a teenager in 1876. Back then he
intended to focus on his early hobbies of breeding poultry and
livestock. So after dropping out of University of Pennsylvania
Med School, he pursued this original thought, but when he sold
his chicks and sheep to farmers they would often ask for the
company”s seeds as well.
And so it came to pass that in 1888, Atlee Burpee bought
Fordhook Farm, near Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and used it for
experimenting on vegetable and flower growing. He then sold
his seeds through a mail-order catalog with the slogan “Burpee”s
Seeds Grow.” By the 1890s Burpee was the largest seed
producer in the world. In 1991 the company was acquired by
Ball Seed Co.
Athens 2004
It was just a few days ago that I commented on the security
situation in Greece and questioned how the hell they can hold the
Olympic Games there in 2004. Less than 24 hours later, the new
president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques
Rogge, harshly reviewed the Greek Olympic organizers”
preparations for the Games. For example, construction on many
of the key facilities hasn”t even begun yet, and pre-Olympic test
events are scheduled to begin in less than two years (beginning
with an international Regatta next summer). But Rogge said he”s
satisfied with Greece”s security plans. Earth to Jacques, think
Greenland. Do the world a favor. [Source: AP]
Emeril
Last August 20 in this space I commented on a review I saw for
“Emeril,” the new NBC sitcom. A reviewer back then said the
tapes revealed a show that was “woefully flat and pretty much
lacked the key ingredient: laughs.” Well, the other day I felt
obligated to catch the premiere and I soon realized this could be
the worst television comedy in the history of the medium. You
know you”re in trouble when the writers decide to employ
sperm jokes in two different scenes. I give it 3 more weeks.
Meanwhile, I eagerly await “The Simpsons” new season for my
shot of real comedy.
Top 3 songs for the week of 9/22/62: #1 “Sherry” (The 4
Seasons) #2 “Ramblin” Rose” (Nat King Cole) #3 “Sheila”
(Tommy Roe)
PGA Tour Quiz Answer / Top Ten money leaders:
Tiger Woods – $5,517,000
Phil Mickelson – $4,403,000
Vijay Singh – $3,151,000
Scott Hoch – $2,794,000
David Toms – $2,677,000
Sergio Garcia – $2,513,000
Scott Verplank – $2,435,000
Jim Furyk – $2,374,000
Davis Love III – $2,360,000
David Duval – $2,255,000
Next Bar Chat, Monday…baseball tidbits.
