Rice Bowl

Rice Bowl. Those two words have not been used in the context of Rice University and football bowl games since 1961. John F. Kennedy was President. Vince Lombardi was winning just his first NFL championship with the Green Bay Packers that season. And the Rice Owls were preparing to play the Kansas Jayhawks in the Bluebonnet Bowl. That was the last highlight for Rice football for over four decades. That long dry spell is over.

"Blow My Face Off"

Berkner High School's "Mighty Ram Band" advanced to the Texas state marching contest last night at the Area C finals.

Berkner's Streak Ends

The Berkner Rams lost a regular-season football game Friday night. That hasn't happened since September 24, 2004, a span of 20 games and more than two years.

Moving North, Moving South

We saw a lot of highway in September. It was north to Chicago to move John to Northwestern University, with side trips to Wisconsin and Indiana to visit family. On the way back to Dallas, we loaded the van with Ellen's parents' belongings, as they are moving to Richardson. One day after getting back to Dallas it was down to Houston for Families Weekend at Rice University.

The Colon Club

Due to strict age requirements (too strict, if you ask me), I have finally accepted the fact that I will never achieve my dream of becoming Miss America. So I've decided to go with my backup plan and become a pin-up girl. And who knew all I needed was a little colon cancer to get myself into the business?

Owls everywhere

Every person in the continental U.S. lives within one mile of an owl.

Jonathan Franzen (Time, August 28, 2006)

Corny, but true

There are some 45,000 items in the average American supermarket, and more than a quarter of them contain corn.

Smithsonian, July, 2006

Human beans?

There are three times as many tanning parlors in the U.S. as there are Starbucks. Dark roast, anyone?

Time, August 7, 2006

Can you tread water for 36 years?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average first broke 100 in 1906. The last time it closed below 100 was in 1942, over 36 years later. The DJIA first broke 10,000 in 1999.

Stalled on the Road

Model 2006 cars and light trucks have an average fuel economy of 21 miles per gallon. That compares with an average of 22.1 mpg for 1987-1988.

BusinessWeek, July 31, 2006