Still in Valdosta

We've been very busy today.

 

We went shopping. No, not for clothes or anything like that.

We're still working on getting Scott's apartment together.

Today, we had lunch at Jimmy John's. I read Tony Adams' story that said we'll be getting a JJ's in Columbus soon. It was good. I really loved the potato chips.

Scott and I cooked dinner while Fred and Cheryl put some drapes up.

It's going to look really good once Scott gets his things from storage.

My feet are killing me. I brought the wrong shoes. Since we were only going to be here three days and two nights, I thought I'd be OK with these flip-flops. I was wrong.

Tomorrow, probably after lunch, we'll head home.

So far, I'm really impressed with this town. Well, except the water.

Columbus' water is far superior.

Valdosta

Here's Scott and Jessica with their grandmother.

To me, Valdosta is just a city on I-75 that we would pass on the way to Florida.

I've been to Valdosta specifically twice. And both times were to go to Wild Adventures Theme Park for stories. Once just an overview of the park. The second was the opening of a new roller coaster and the chance to meet that cute boy from "Survivor."

We've stopped at the outlet mall many times to walk around either on the way to South Florida or on our back home. My brother Fred and his family lived in Hollywood before moving back home after he retired.

That is the extent of my knowledge of the city.

Now my nephew Scott is stationed at Moody Air Base. And I'm sitting in his apartment.

We came yesterday with a bunch of stuff for him. It's his very first apartment. And he's living all by himself. It's an older apartment complex but it's pretty well kept up.

Fred and Cheryl bought him a living room set -- sofa, love seat and chair. The rest of the furniture are flea market finds and Jessica's old bed. But the mattress is new and very comfy.

Of course, I slept on an air mattress in the little bedroom!

But it's very nice and it will be Scott's home for the next two years or so. Maybe less. Maybe more.

I'm glad that he's back in the States. His first base was in Iceland. His second was in England.

Now he's just three hours away! Not an ocean away.

Maybe not so great for him. But great for us.

Never mind

I truly am not a pink girl.

So I think this is it.

More experimentation

The consensus was the last one I tried was too plain.

So what about this one?

I'm not too fond of pink, but I didn't like the other colors.

Family-friendly restaurants

A couple of years ago, I saw a piece on the Food Network about a restaurant that catered to couples with young children.

It featured a menu of things that kids love — peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, tacos, pizza.

And the restaurant had kid-sized tables and chairs.

Best of all the walls were painted with that blackboard kind of paint to about 3-feet-high all around. Chalk was laid out for the kids and they could draw and draw and draw.

Very kid-friendly place.

I had lunch today at Los Amigos Cantina downtown and I was talking to the owners, David and Marlene. They were setting up their new menu and David showed me what they're planning for the kids' menu.

Each kids' menu item will come not on a plate but an upside flying disc. The disc will be lined with waxed paper and the food will be placed on the paper. Rice and beans will be in little ramekins. And the kids get to take the discs home. Oh, and they are fluorescent pink, green, orange. Fun colors that kids love.

That got me thinking.

Can you think of any other family-friendly restaurants? I want to do a story about them. But I need your help because I don't have any children.

Now, I don't want to borrow your children. I just need to know where your kids feel welcome and comfortable.

And I really don't want to hear things like Chuck E. Cheese. They better be kid-friendly. And we all know that fast-food establishments have fun things for kids in their children's meals.

So let me know.

Experimenting, Part 2

OK, one of my best friends, Troy Heard, didn't like that last one.

So, what do you think of this one?

A keeper?

Dining Out

Back in the late 1970s, we started a column called "Dining Out."

Several people did it, and it was very, very popular.

We redesigned To Do a couple of years ago and added a dining profile. It's really not a review of the place, but just that — a profile of a restaurant. 

We only do locally-owned restaurants, and I'm afraid we're running low on places to go.

Fortunately for us, new places do open up every week and someone will call or e-mail us with suggestions.

This is a plea from me, Allison Kennedy and Sonya Sorich.

If you know of a locally-owned restaurant that we have not profiled, please call or e-mail us.

We'll be happy to check it out. 

Project Runway

The challenge this week for the designers is to make an outfit made out of car parts.

Most of them used seat belts in some way.

The ones left on the runway were Blayne, Jerell, Keith, Leanne, Korto and Stella.

Of the last six, the winner was Leanne. I didn't like what she made at all. I thought either Jerrel or Korto won it.

Keith is out. He had a bad attitude all along.

Next week should be good. The designers will be making something for Diane von Furstenberg.

Wow!

Experimenting

Let me know if you like this, or want me to go back to the way my blog looked before.

I'd really like your input.

DWTS, Part 2

Have you been wondering which stars will be dancing with which professional dancer for the new season of "Dancing With the Stars"?

I did, and I finally had the chance to go to the Web site and here are the pairings.

Lance Bass with Lacey Schwimmer; Toni Braxton with Alec Mazo; Brooke Burke with Derek Hough; Rocco DiSpirito with Karina Smirnoff; Maurice Green with Cheryl Burke; Kim Kardashian with Mark Ballas; Cloris Leachman with Corky Ballas; Cory Linley with Julianne Hough; Susan Lucci with Tony Dovolani; Misty May-Treanor with Maksim Chmerkovskiy; Ted McGinley with Inna Brayer; Jeffrey Ross With Edyta Sliwinska and Warren Sapp with Kym Johnson.

OK. Cloris Leachman is 82-years-old. She's paired with Corky Ballas, who is Mark's father. Corky trained brother-and-sister team of Julianne and Derek Hough.

I guess Tony Dovolani was chosen for Susan Lucci because he's used to working with older women like Jane Seymour and Leeza Gibbons.

When Tom Bergeron was announcing the new stars Monday, he made me laugh when he said Cory Linley is the youngest star ever on the show. And he said that Julianne is finally the older woman. She won the championship with Helio Castroneves and Apolo Anton Ohno.

I've been telling my sister Dorothy that my goal in life is to dance with Maksim Chmerkovskiy. I know that will never happen but a girl can dream, right?

As you can probably tell, I can't wait for the show to start.

8 p.m. Sept. 22!

I still can't tell you which one will win.

But the countdown has begun!

Dancing With the Stars

You know what a big fan I am of "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC.

I had to make sure to watch "Good Morning America" to see who this season's contestants are going to be.

Democratic convention? Never mind. Michelle Obama? Come on. Get it over with. Bring on Tom Bergeron!

What's with this silencetherooster.com business? Too many commercials!

OK. Finally.

The first six contestants are Lance Bass, formerly of N'Sync; celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito; Olympic gold medal beach volleyballer Misty May-Treanor; another Olympic gold medalist, runner Maurice Green; Grammy Award-winning pop singer Toni Braxton and celebutante Kim Kardashian. 

This is not fair! They've split the 12 up and won't announce it until the next half hour. Boo!

As much as I love Chuck Leonard, I've got to watch another rehash of last night's news and another weathercast.

Come on!

The next six are 18-year-old Cody Linley of "Hannah Montana," who is the youngest contestant ever; veteran actress Cloris Leachman, who is the oldest contestant ever; actor Ted McGinley; model and TV host Brooke Burke; comedian Jeffrey Ross and retired football player Warren Sapp.

And for the first time this season, there's a 13th contestant -- Susan Lucci of "All My Children."

I can usually pick out the winner, but this time, I have no idea. OK. I was wrong last time. I picked Jason Taylor, but Kristi Yamaguchi won. He was the runner-up.

I'll have to watch the first show to see how everyone moves. And then I'll make the prediction.

It all begins Sept. 22 with the first elimination on Sept. 23.

All right. Let's get back to the Democratic convention. After all, I was a poli-sci major.

Beijing Olympics

Did you watch the closing ceremony?

I know the mayor of London, I think it's Boris Johnson, is sitting in the Bird's Nest, thinking how he's going to top this!

It's truly amazing, including a red double-decker bus that became a transformer! On top were Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page, whom we couldn't hear. I don't know what happened to the audio. And then David Beckham showed up next to them.

I was waiting for Harry Potter next!

It was one spectacle after the other.

Truly amazing.

"Mamma Mia!"

I still haven't seen "Mamma Mia!" on stage or at the movies.

It's not that I don't like ABBA. I just haven't seen the movie. And every time the play has been in Atlanta, I haven't gone to see it.

I just saw this on IMDb: Universal may entice fans of the hit musical "Mamma Mia!" to return to the theaters over Labor Day by presenting a "Sing-Along Edition" in select theaters, complete with the lyrics to all of the songs appearing at the bottom of the screen. The film, which has grossed about $117 million is already set to become the fourth-biggest musical ticket seller of all time by the weekend, behind "Grease," "Chicago" and "The Sound of Music."

I hope Carmike Cinemas will be one of those "select" theaters. I'd love to go to a sing-along!

I'll make sure I take my Springer friends who can actually sing.

Our music and art festivals

Once upon a time, we had two music and art festivals. One was always the first full weekend of April and was called Riverfest. The other was the weekend before Columbus Day and was called Uptown Jam.

Both were great fun and attracted lots and lots of people.

But these kinds of festivals take lots and lots of time and effort and the people running them got tired.

I really, really miss Riverfest and Uptown Jam.

I got a press kit in the mail for the Westobou Festival in Augusta. It's more than week-long festival Sept. 18-27.

There's all kinds of music, including big names like John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett; theater like the 51st anniversary of "The Three Faces of Eve" and art exhibits like a Robert Rauschenberg installation and a James Brown exhibit. There's lots more stuff going on.

Alas, no Riverfest or Uptown Jam.

That doesn't mean someone can't bring them back.

Please!

Beijing Olympics

Again, I'm up late watching the Olympics.

Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh won their gold medal in beach volleyball. I don't know how they played in the pouring rain.

My sister and I were talking the other night.

I said I understand why the beach volleyballers wear those skimpy uniforms.

But when did the track runners start wearing bikinis?

Dorothy cracks me up.

"If I had a body like those girls, I'd wear a bikini all the time," was her reply.

She does have a point.

The reason we don't wear those skimpy outfits? We sit around watching. We're not out doing!

Oh, well. Not all of us are driven to win athletic medals. At least the Okamoto family is not.

Project Runway

Joe won the drag queen challenge. He thought of Ann-Margret on "The Love Boat." So he made this very pink sailor outfit.

I thought Korto had the winning design for the plus-sized drag queen. She made this shiny red outfit with a sculptural design around the left shoulder. And it even had a skirt that came off. An amazing design.

Daniel lost. He made a really pretty dress that any high school girl would have loved to wear to the prom. It was not a drag queen outfit at all.

There are 10 designers left.

Menopause: The Musical

I was talking to Paul Pierce, the artistic director of the Springer Opera House, for a story I'm working on. And he told me something astounding.

Tickets for "Menopause: The Musical" is selling so well that the original run is just about sold out.

People are not just buying a pair of tickets. 

"They're buying, six, eight, 10, 12, 16 and 18 tickets at a time," he said.

Because of that, he's added three more shows.

So if you want to see this show, you'd better buy your tickets now.

Don't wait.

Call 706-327-3688.

Piiko

I took this picture of my great-nephew Elijah with my little Piiko about two years ago. She's a Peke-a-poo. Elijah was eating and Piiko obviously wanted some of his sandwich. Elijah kept saying, "No, Pii-oh. My sammich."

It was so cute.

Piiko, as you can see, is white with a little cream around her ears.

She will be the very last white dog I'll have. I just cannot keep her clean.

One time, when I was at my vet's office, I was complaining to Dr. Myers that she's digging and rolling around in the dirt. I asked what I can do to get her to quit.

He looked at me very patiently, and said, "Sandra, she's a dog."

So? Make her stop!

Dr. Myers wasn't very cooperative.

I can give her a bath in the morning. And by the time I get home from work, she'll be filthy.

She won't let me groom her, so she gets all matted. I just don't know what to do. Well, I lelt the pros at the Paisley Pooch do it. It's time for her to go again.

If you have any suggestions, I'll take 'em!

Single Ticket Saturday was a huge success

Guess what the hot ticket was Saturday?

Saturday was the day that the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts sold single tickets for the 2008-09 season for the first time.

Mannheim Steamroller's holiday show on Nov. 22 was the top seller, followed by "An Evening with Natalie Cole" on Oct. 18. The next popular ticket was "A Skaggs Family Christmas" on Dec. 5. Fourth was the Neville Brothers and Dr. John on Feb. 26.

Single Ticket Saturday was a huge success as the RiverCenter's box office staff sold tickets for 6 1/2 hours.

"We let them in 8:30 a.m.," said executive director Enoch Morris. They sold tickets from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The box office was going to close at its usual time of 3 p.m. But with people still in line, they stayed open until 4:30 p.m. Enoch said most people waited 2-2 1/2 hours to buy their tickets.

To keep them amused, they brought in food! In the morning, there was coffee and donuts. Around lunch time, my buddy Roy Cook brought 300 hot dogs. He ran out and had to get more!

Monkey Joe's brought those bouncy things for the kids.

Those great RiverCenter volunteers would even stand in line as people had to go to the bathroom!

The first year that Enoch did Single Ticket Saturday, he said the RiverCenter made about $7,000. He's a great guy, always giving credit to people. This time, he said Single Ticket Saturday was Kimberly Hickman's idea. And Kimberly doesn't even work at the RiverCenter! She's the Springer Opera House's tour manager.

Anyway, this year, the RiverCenter made $65,000 in ticket sales.

"People like to pick out their own seats," Enoch said.

OK. That's one reason this is so popular. The other reason this year was more popular: Broadway on Broadway single tickets were on sale for the first time. If you didn't buy them Saturday, you'll have to wait until they go back on sale, which is typically six weeks before each show.

Another reason: People were allowed to create their own season, using the Broadway shows they wanted to see. If you picked five or more shows from any of the season, you also got a 10 percent discount.

"It was a great, great day," Enoch said. "Every single show sold something. It was a fun, fun day. Everybody's exhausted. I need to do something for the staff."

I heard something for the first time today. Enoch said that there are special tickets for "Value-view seating." These are the last two or three rows in the balcony. You can see a show for $10!

If you want to build your own series, you can do so, and still get a 10 percent discount. The catch? The Broadway shows are not available any more. But the other series are.

Call 706-256-3612.

I don't think I was ever that young!

This morning, I had to go to Courtyard 1 of Columbus State University to talk to students who were moving into one of three dormitory complexes.

I saw some old friends, Mike and Geri Regnier and Ray Lakes. They were a couple of classes ahead of me when I entered Columbus College in 1975. Mike taught for years at Shaw High School and Geri was the director of alumni affairs for a lot of years. They've both retired, but they're still working, this time both at CSU. Ray took Geri's place as director of alumni affairs.

After I spoke to several young freshmen and their parents, I went back to the residence life area and found Geri and Ray. I told them that I didn't think I was ever as young as those kids!

They assured me that we were, indeed that young ... once.

I met Tim Mescon, the new president of CSU. He's been in office for two weeks and believe it or not, he was helping kids move in. Toting boxes and suitcases! His wife, Lauren, and two of their sons, David and Preston, were helping, too.

If he saw a child wandering around looking lost, he'd ask if they needed some help. Then he'd walk them over to where they needed to go.

It looks like CSU got just the right guy.

Though I surely don't envy him. He's got some challenges coming up, especially with the state budget cuts coming up.

It was a fun assignment on a Saturday morning.

Then I headed for the office to write the story, meet Carmen Williams and the Buzz kids and catch up on To Do for next week.

I picked up dinner from Chef Lee's.

Then it was home to eat and watch the Olympics.

It was Dara Torres and Michael Phelps' night. Dana won two silvers and Michael won his eighth gold. Amazing.

Then Usain Bolt won the gold in the 100 meter run in a world record 9.69 seconds. And he pulled up at the end. The commentators wondered how fast he could have gone if he ran full out the whole way.

Then the commentator, who I can't remember now, said something like it wasn't enough that he cracked 10 seconds, but he was now in "the realm of video games."

That just made me laugh!

When the Olympics came to Atlanta, my friends and I were so pumped up about the games. Sydney and Athens, not so much.

I don't know about my friends, but I'm really into these games. OK, I'm an Olympics geek. I love the pageantry. I love the individual athletes' stories. I love the suspense.

Yup. A sports geek. That's me.

I'm a hypochondriac

Well, I don't think I really am a hypochondriac, though my sisters think I am.

Now my co-workers think so, too.

I could hardly move yesterday because I had a pain right below my left shoulder blade.

Today, I came down with some flu-like symptoms.

I got very cold and got the shivers. Now, I'm going through the "change," and I'm never cold enough. So I knew I was sick.

Besides, I knew I had a fever. My normal temperature is between 96-97 degrees, so if it gets up to 98.6 like most people, I have a fever.

My body ached, though not that spot under my shoulder blade. It was everywhere else.

Now that I've taken some Naproxen, I feel better. I'm sweating, so I guess that means my fever has broken.

Either that or I'm having yet another hot flash.

Oh, it's not fun getting old!

If I don't feel any better when I get up in the morning, I'm going to see my doctor.

Maybe I just need to sleep the whole weekend. That sounds like a wonderful idea.

Max Roberts

Max Roberts was one of the nicest guys in the world.

I was very upset to hear that he had died in a one-car accident.

If you read Richard Hyatt's column yesterday, you know that he was shocked as well.

Max had had health problems for a long, long time.

I first met him on my first day at the Columbus Ledger. Back in 1975, when I started working, the Ledger was the afternoon paper and the Enquirer the morning paper.

Because I was the Green Sheet editor, I kind of worked for both. But technically, I was a Ledger employee.

Max was managing editor, along with Wade Saye. Wait, now I can't remember which man was ME for which paper.

I guess it's just old age on my part.

I went to Max's funeral today, and sat with two newly-retired folks, Jerry Gibson and Harry Franklin.

When the funeral reached the 90-minute mark, I had to leave. I had to do an interview at 4 p.m., so I didn't get to speak to his widow, Beverly.

Beverly is a fine mosaic artist. I had met her first, not knowing she was married to Max.

It was at a reception at the Columbus Museum that I saw Max after not seeing him since he left Columbus in 1976. And he was with Beverly.

It was another of my usual Duh! moments. I just never made the connection. I mean, Roberts is not an unusual last name, is it?

I didn't get to see Max as often as I'd like, but I made sure that he came to Harry's retirement party. He said it had been the first time he'd been in the building since he left. I took him around and introduced him to people. And he got to say hello to other people he remembered.

I really don't know why he remembered me after all those years, but he did.

The world is poorer with Max in it.

My condolences go to Beverly and the rest of Max's family.

-30-

Project Runway

This week's challenge had Brooke Shields asking for an outfit that her character could wear on "The Lipstick Jungle."

The designers were paired up.

Keith won the challenge because he was the team leader. 

The outfit was amazing with a high-waisted skirt with layers of petals and a floral top. Beautiful.

Kelli was eliminated. She admitted it was "too hoochie mama."

I still get the biggest kick out of watching this show!

The Beijing Olympics

Are you as amazed with the U.S. swimmers as I am?

My sister Dorothy called me last night and the first thing out of her mouth was: "Did they put crack in the pool?"

It seems that every gold medal comes with a world record.

And that Michael Phelps is amazing. He eats like I'd love to eat. But I don't dare.

What about the men's synchronized diving? Is that the dumbest thing?

If they allow that, why not men's synchronized swimming?

There's a Japanese movie called "Water Boys" about a high school boys' synchronized swimming team. It's one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. There's a sequel, but it's not as good as the first one.

Again, I'll be up late, watching the Olympics.

Pianos, pianos, pianos

Maxine R. Schiffman (seated), who donated a $2 million gift to buy 68 Steinway & Sons pianos for the Columbus State University Schwob School of Music, attended a New York Philharmonic concert in Central Park. Chinese pianist Lang Lang, who took part in the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics last Friday, performed on the red Steinway piano. Also in the group were Rick Grant, president of Jordan Kitts Music; Rex Whiddon, director of major gifts, CSU; Lang Lang, Ken Saliba, vice president of institutional sales, Jordan Kitts Music; Mary Beth Schiffman; pianist Betty Anne Diaz; Byron Brown, institutional sales director, Steinway Piano Gallery, Atlanta; and Fred Cohen, director of the Schwob School of Music.

Yesterday, Fred Cohen, director of the Schwob School of Music, walked me onto the stage of the Bill Heard Theatre.

I know my mouth dropped open.

On the stage were the 67 Steinway & Sons pianos. Actually, there were 66. The new concert grand is still being built in Hamburg, Germany, and will be shipped sometime next month.

There are 43 upright pianos and 24 grands.

I learned something new. The grand pianos are marked by their lengths. There are the D grands or the concert grand pianos that are 9-feet long. The B is 7-feet long; the A is 6-feet-2-inches long; the O is 5-feet-10 inches long and the M is 5-feet-7-inches long.

While of these instruments sound wonderful, the longer the strings, the richer the sound.

These are not only wonderful instruments to play, they are great investments for the school.

Byron Brown, institutional sales director, in Atlanta's Steinway Piano Gallery, says if a piano is taken care of very well, it can go up in value. Some years ago, an upright sold for $1,200 is now worth $5,000-$6,000.

Imagine how much 43 uprights will be worth in 15 years!

This gift is due to the Maxine R. and Jack S. Schiffman Family Foundation. Mrs. Schiffman was in the Heard Theatre today and she was smiling the whole time.

Betty Anne Díaz, who retired as the professor of piano earlier this year, is just happy to see all the pianos. She'll be performing at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 29 in Legacy Hall during "An Evening with the Schumanns." Betty Anne will be accompanying professor of voice Michelle DeBruyn. The concert is free. 706-649-1986.

Anthony Bourdain

I just finished watching "No Reservations" on the Travel Channel. It's the show hosted by Anthony Bourdain.

This week, he went to Tokyo. It's the third time in Japan for him. He went to Tokyo a few years ago and last season, he went to Osaka.

This time, Bourdain was in Tokyo and Kyoto.

And the places he went to were not anyplace we went. Well, we went to Tokyo Station. So did he. He rode the Shinkansen or the bullet train. So did we.

But the place he ate were definitely not the places where we ate! We can't afford the places he went!

And he was accompanied by "Iron Chef" Masahiro Morimoto. I didn't know he had opened a restaurant in Roppongi. Morimoto cooked just for Bourdain. Lucky dog!

I'm glad that Bourdain shows Japan to Americans without being obnoxious. And you know he can be.

Next Monday, he'll be in Spain. The show comes on at 10 p.m.

I love "No Reservations." I hope the Travel Channel keeps it.

2008 Beijing Olympics

I always love to watch the opening ceremonies and this one did not disappoint.

Did Bob Costas really say there were 15,000 participants in the opening segments? 

The first 2,000 drummers were truly amazing. And it was more and more amazing.

But my mother was right. It was a bit too long.

By the time the athletes began marching in, I was pooped.

Some countries' Olympic outfits were better than others. As always. Ralph Lauren designed the Americans' outfits and it was as you'd expect. Clean, neat sportswear.

My sister, Dorothy, who lives in Charleston, called and we decided that the Peruvian flag bearer was the best. She was the happiest one in the whole stadium.

The little boy who survived the earthquake was the cutest thing. And he looked so tiny compared to Yao Ming, with whom he walked in the stadium. And I don't believe he is 9. He looked like he was 4-years-old. I told Dorothy I'd get him. She reminded me that he survived the earthquake. He was not orphaned. OK, OK.

I always thought the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the Barcelona Games' opening c ceremony was the best. Remember that one? Where an archer lit it?

Well, this one beat it. Li Ning, the gymnast "flew" like Peter Pan around the stadium and then lit the cauldron, which magically appeared.

I was amazed by the whole thing. I can't wait to see the closing ceremony.

Oh, and I guess some of the competitions!

Hamster Roll 500

This is going to be fun!

Petland, 5592-A Whitesville Road, is going to hold the Hamster Roll 500 (500 centimeters or roughly three feet) at 2 p.m. Aug. 16. Registration begins at noon.

Other Petland stores have been doing this for some time, but it will be the first in Columbus.

Growing up, we had hamsters and parakeets. And a couple of dogs, of course. For some reason, we never had any cats. I don't know why. My sister-in-law, Cheryl, loves cats. Right now, she has one, Harry. Her beloved Rosie died a few months ago of old age. She was a sweetie. She was a kitten when our Pomeranian, Cherry, was a puppy. They were buddies. It was so cute watching those two play. They'd pretend not to like each other. We'd leave the house and when we got back, they'd be sleeping together! We lost Cherry first, about four years ago.

Anyway, getting back to the hamster race.

Anyone with a hamster can register their pet. It's free.

The course is straight and about three-feet long. The "world" record is 38 seconds.

Depending on the number of hamsters, there will be different heats for them to compete in.

The Ice Cream Girl, a new ice cream shop in the Landings, will be selling ice cream. Ten percent of the sales will go to the Muscogee County Humane Society. Petland will match whatever the Ice Cream Girl donates.

It'll be lots of fun!

For more information, call Don Popham at 706-321-9921.

The Buzz

Just in time for the new school year, The Buzz is finally unveiled. And it looks good.

Editor Carmen Williams has done a splendid job gathering reporters together and posting their stories online.

You can read what the teenagers are thinking about at www.l-emedia.com/buzz There are movie and book reviews, fashion stories, comics and, of course, news stories.

Right now, The Buzz will be updated once a month. But once school starts, I'm guessing it will be updated more frequently.

If you want to comment on any of the stories or offer suggestions for future stories, write to Carmen at Cawbuzz@yahoo.com

We're waiting to hear from you!

The Phantom of the RiverCenter

I just got home from this evening's "Phantom of the RiverCenter."

The Phantom never showed up, but a chandelier did fall on stage as Kevin Newton and Andy Luker showed how special effects are done.

More than 150 people showed up for the wine tasting and tour. And a good time was had by all.

I don't know how many people signed up to become members of the RiverCenter Ambassadors Network, but this was a great event to show what this group can do: raise money and have fun doing it.

Just because you don't drink doesn't mean you can't come. I really don't drink. What I did was get one wine at each station and sipped a little. Then I'd toss it at the next station. Get a little of one wine. Sip it. Go to the next station, toss it. At the last station, I got a really good merlot. Still, I just took a couple of sips and tossed it.

I saw a friend of mine, Jimmy Motos, who was just there to socialize. He doesn't even pretend to drink like I did.

Besides the wine tasting, the tour was lots of fun. It's been a while since I've been under the stage. And I'd bet 99 percent of the people at the event had never been there.

Someone said there were people there who had never even been in the RiverCenter at all.

I thought everyone in town had been to the RiverCenter. I guess I was wrong.

The Ambassadors have at least two more events planned this year. Neither have dates set. The first is Octoberfest in October featuring different beers and perhaps German food. The second is in November and will feature a tequila tasting.

Someone joked that for the tequila tasting, cabs should be parked in front of the RiverCenter for those who need a ride home.

Actually, that's a great idea.

Congratulations to the RiverCenter staff and the Ambassadors for a fabulous evening.

Project Runway

As usual, I'm watching the midnight replay of one of my favorite reality shows.

The challenge this week is timely. They were supposed to design an outfit for the American women athletes for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (Of course, this was make believe because I believe it's Ralph Lauren who designed the opening ceremony outfits.)

The funniest thing was when Tim Gunn told Blayne that his outfit looked too "Sergeant Pepper." Blayne had no idea what he was talking about! Damned kids.

Some of the designers didn't have a clue about what the Olympics are about.

Terri, Jennifer, Joe, Daniel, Korto and Jerell were the ones left on the runway.

The judges, Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and guest judge Apolo Anton Ohno, liked the designs of Terri, Joe and Korto. They disliked the designs of Jennifer, Daniel and Jerell.

Korto won the challenge.

The final two left were Jennifer and Daniel. Heidi said Daniel's outfit was a "sad, purple cocktail dress." Jennifer's outfit "was stuck in the past."

Jennifer was booted off the show.

Now it's time for bed.

The Phantom of the RiverCenter

Don't forget. Tomorrow night (Thursday) at 7 p.m., it's the RiverCenter Ambassadors Network's first event. The Ambassadors' Phantom of the RiverCenter is a wine tasting and tour of the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.

It's just $25 and you can buy tickets at the door.

Let suggest one thing if you're going: Eat dinner before you go.

There will be some hors d'oeuvres, but it won't be enough food if you're drinking.

And even though it's a "tasting," it's still tasting nine different wines. At 2 ounces each, that's a lot of wine.

OK, it might not be a lot of wine for you, but it's a lot of wine for me.

So I'm having dinner with my friends Patty Taylor and Geri Davis before we go.

It's going to be a lot of fun. You'll be able to see parts of the RiverCenter that you'll never see.

I'll see you there.

Design Star

OK. I forgot to watch "Design Star" when it was on its "real" time. I was watching "Gene Simmons Family Ties" or whatever it's called.

So I watched it, starting at 1 a.m. 

Like I said earlier, it really doesn't matter which one (Matt or Jennifer) won because either one would be good.

I saw that each of them won a cruise.

Jennifer won.

So this means in three seasons, two female designers have won. Last year, it was Kim Myles.

My favorite was the first season's winner, David Bromstad. Probably because he was shirtless most of the time!

I'd like to see how her show is going to be.

And I forgot to watch Aaron's new show on the Food Channel Sunday morning. I'll catch it later this week.

Now it's time to sleep.

Baby William

When I was watching "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" last Sunday, there was something that puzzled me.

In one very brief exchange, Scully and Mulder spoke about their baby.

Huh?

I had to e-mail my "X-Files" expert, Tom Ford. He sent me a couple of links that I read.

The couple had the baby in Season 8. She ultimately gave him up for adoption.

I really, truly do no remember any of this. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention to the series by that time? 

Who knows?

But at least that mystery was cleared up.

Thanks, Tom! I know I can count on you.