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Roaming Charge
The gate attendant handed us some papers as my wife and I drove into Yellowstone National Park earlier this month. Included with the park map and newsletter was a card we could hang from our rear view mirror. It was a warning to stay away from the bison and other wildlife.
Later that day we heard a park ranger yelling “get back” to the tourists at Old Faithful. Two bison had decided to go grazing near the geyser. That night when we got to our hotel in Missoula, I looked online and found YouTube videos of other, less content bison charging the crowd at the same spot.
A Utah couple was injured by a bison in the Biscuit Basin area of Yellowstone this week. They definitely got too close and are lucky their injuries aren’t more severe. It appears from the video that someone threw a stick at the bison, provoking the attack. What were they thinking? That Yellowstone was a huge petting zoo? That they were the next Steve Irwin?
Let me go off on a brief tangent directed at one of the local news stations in Knoxville. Yellowstone National Park is not in Utah as your on-screen graphic indicated. You were only off by about 300 miles, which would be roughly the same as saying that the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was in Ohio. Please check a map.
At first, I assumed that the rangers’ warnings were to protect the bison from humans as opposed to the other way around. I had read about the number of animals killed by vehicles each year. I saw a dead bison along the road on our way to the West Yellowstone exit. The next day as we drove through the Flathead Indian Reservation to St. Ignatius, we passed under something that intrigued me.
I took a picture of the animal bridge so I would remember to research the topic when I got home. I wanted to know how the animals learn to cross the bridge. The animal crossing is covered with dirt and grass. A long fence funnels larger animals toward the bridge. For smaller species, they have tunnels under certain roads. Next time I get curious, I will try to find out why the bison crossed the road.
Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus
Hate crimes are evidence of the stupidity and ignorance of the hate criminals. St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Oak Ridge was vandalized last week. I was disgusted when I read about it on Thursday morning.
I wonder if the vandals are atheists, Satanists or perhaps misguided Christians who have made no effort to understand Catholicism. Some of their slurs imply that they incorrectly assume all sexual abuse is committed by priests. In fact, the rate of abuse by priests is the same as in any other religion or group, which doesn’t minimize the tragedy. It should make us realize that abuse cannot be pigeonholed as only a Catholic problem.
As a lifelong Catholic, living in a “vibrant diocese,” I am saddened by the local anti-Catholic incidents over the past year. A group of high school students desecrated the Eucharist. A Baptist preacher distributed anti-Catholic comic books. And now vandals have struck in Oak Ridge.
Daddy Benami
A man approached the Star 102.1 van during my remote broadcast on Sunday. He was carrying a file folder. I was watching from across the parking lot of US Cellular and wondered aloud if he planned to drop off a résumé. I walked over to the van to see what he wanted.
Through a thick Israeli accent, he introduced himself as the father of “American Idol” finalist Didi Benami. The file folder contained homemade flyers urging support for his daughter. He said that other finalists had busloads of fans in attendance at their hometown concerts and he wanted the same for Didi. The “American Idol” tour comes to Knoxville on Wednesday, July 28.
One of my favorite news anchors will be in town for the concert. Stacy McCloud moved to Nashville last year to become the entertainment reporter for Fox 17. Part of her job is to provide Music City with in-depth coverage of “American Idol.” Stacy sent me a message to check her Facebook status which implies that WVLT will give her some airtime that day. I guess I’ll set my DVR for all their newscasts.
Prepare for Ludicrous Speed
The 25th anniversary banners at Dollywood clearly acknowledge that they opened in 1986, which is 24 years ago. While you can’t say that the Dollywood name is 25 years old yet, you can say that the name is in its 25th year of use. The park has had at least four names dating back to 1961 when it was called Rebel Railroad. In the ’70s it was known as Goldrush Junction. An insider told me that some of the staff consider 2010 to be the 25th anniversary of Dolly Parton becoming a co-owner of Silver Dollar City in 1985.
This year’s KidsFest features a new headline performance each week. “Mad Science Presents Star Trek Live” runs through Sunday. I attended one of the first performances on Tuesday, along with a group of contest winners who had to suggest a current celebrity to wear the red shirt on an away mission. I spoke with one winner who nominated Mel Gibson and another who suggested Lindsay Lohan.
Obviously, the live, interactive show is geared toward kids. It starts off a little slowly as the audience is told they are Starfleet Academy cadets on orientation day. Before long, a Vulcan woman time-travels to 2010 to prevent an evil Romulan from altering Starfleet history. Things get interesting once she chooses an audience member to transport with her to the Romulan vessel. They use a green screen and some toy Tribbles for several very effective sight gags. After the show, the cast is available to pose for photos with children of all ages.
TNT: The Neglected Tortoise
A Twitter message from a fellow Body Farm fan got my hopes up that TNT had a new show about a crime-fighting tortoise named Bass. The heavily promoted series is called “Rizzoli & Isles.” One is a cop, the other a forensic pathologist.
Dr. Maura Isles has a pet African Spurred Tortoise. Despite what was posted on the Fanpop page for Bass, I didn’t hear Isles specifically say that he was named after Dr. Bill Bass. Who else could it be? Lance Bass? Rankin/Bass? Chilean sea bass?
The first episode had too much Rizzoli and not enough Bass. There wasn’t enough Isles either. Episode two had a little more Isles but no Bass at all.
While we’re on the topic of Dr. Bass, you can have “Dinner with the Bone Doctor” on Monday, July 26 at Echo Bistro & Wine Bar. He will give a presentation about the Body Farm, sign autographs and pose for pictures. Attendance is limited to 60 people. For $100, you get a surf & turf dinner and a copy of “The Bone Thief.” The cost for dinner without the book is $69.95. The proceeds go to the Dr. William M. Bass III Forensic Anthropology building fund.
Where People Get Caffeine
Everything at my wife’s high school reunion was so fancy that they had not only Starbucks Coffee but Starbucks Hot Water too. They held the event at the Westin Tysons Corner.
One of her classmates saved memorabilia from their high school years. I was especially interested in the WHFS bumper stickers and the WPGC Hit Survey.
Looking for Mr. Udvar
To get from Seattle to Washington, we flew from SeaTac to Baltimore. I was extremely happy that our AirTran flight was non-stop and that they offered WiFi in-flight. Before entering my credit card information, I clicked on on “live help” and asked if any discounts were available. The Gogo employee on the other end replied with a promo code from AirTran good for 25% off.
Aviation was still on our minds the next day and not just because of jet lag. My wife’s side of the family wanted to get together for a kid-friendly activity despite the threat of rain. We’re going to Udvar-Házy, I was told. Huh? That’s what my nieces and nephews call the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Házy Center at Dulles International Airport.
The first hangar is filled with airplanes of all types, including an Air France Concorde. I used to see the Concorde flying over my parents’ house in Northern Virginia. Perhaps the most historic plane on display is the Enola Gay. I was puzzled by a biplane painted with camouflage colors. They went to all that trouble and then put two big targets on the wings.
I was anxious to get past the Air exhibits and on to the Space. A phone booth from Cape Canaveral put me in mind of “I Dream of Jeannie.” They had the actual capsule from Gemini VII but only a flotation device from the splashdown of Apollo 11. After the astronauts returned to Earth, they were put in a Mobile Quarantine Facility for fear of “moon germs.” I remembered the image of President Nixon speaking to the astronauts through the window of the converted Airstream trailer.
Amid all the great technology was an invention so simple and practical, that it can only be called “genius.” Every public bathroom with an inward opening door should be immediately retrofitted with Clean-Escape!
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