Saturday, February 10, 2007

Saturday bits

Today I realized I was under the spell of a (not terribly significant) urban legend. There is a suspension bridge in northern Portland, called the St. Johns Bridge. Its quite eye catching but is off the normal tourist path. The commonly held belief in town is that it was designed by the same person who designed the Golden Gate Bridge. Ask a Portlander and they are likely to add that of the two, the designer preferred the St. Johns. Trouble is, the bridges were designed by different people and besides both being West Coast suspension bridges, they are unrelated. Again, hardly the end of the world, but I wonder what other facts we know that are in fact, untrue.

We watched Johnny Cash - Ridin' the Rails last night. If you have kids who are interested in both railroads and music, this would be an entertaining movie. It was a made for TV special from the mid-70s. It is the story of the railroad with railroad related songs (like The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, City of New Orleans (this vid is from Ridin The Rails) and John Henry. Cash gets really into a few of the re-enactments, particularly the driving of the Golden Spike. This is most certainly not for everyone, but again, with the right kids, you will get accolades. Speaking of the kids, if you or your kids are interested in railroads and you find yourself in Baltimore, do not miss the B&O Railroad Museum.

Here is a roundup on the reaction to preorder rush for the final Harry Potter novel. I was chagrined to read the last comment. The writer indicated she was recommited to reading classics and is very happy she has. I don't necessarily need to read classics, but I would like to up the overall quality of my reading. For every Atonement, I read far too many Dan Browns (yeah, I'll own up). I think I am too susceptible to marketing and the buzz of the brand new. Its not as if I don't have at least 15 very high quality books awaiting. I really should get started on Can You Forgive Her?

1 comment:

Eric said...

Choosing the right perfume can be difficult and because it is also considered an intimate gift buying the wrong perfume can backfire on you and get you the opposite result of that which you hoped for.

The first thing you need to do is do some homework, meaning research. Look at your lady's perfume bottles, the ones that are nearly empty will be her favorites. If there is one there that is nearly full chances are she doesn't wear it often or doesn't like it. Hint around and ask her what types of fragrances she likes and dislikes.

Humans are very sensory oriented and our sense of smell is no different. Certain perfumes can elicit strong reactions in both the wearer and the person reacting to the scent. Perfumes are made not only to attract but to also relax someone. If you aren't totally sure what kind of perfume to buy you can always play it safe and get something in the aromatherapy line. If you go this route, bear in mind that vanilla scents are considered to relax and a peppermint or lemon scent will be more stimulating.