While listening to the news this morning, I happened upon the bit about the gentleman on the ski lift who got more than he bargained for on his journey.  While the outcome was good, it could have been catastrophic.  The man was not identified and I can say with certainty that I would not want to be identified, either.  I am sure that if onlookers had the means, photos would have been snapped and videos must have been captured for youtube fodder.   Laugh if you must (hard not to) the situation must have been perilous… dangling from a ski lift while exposed for seven minutes.  Must haven been a chilling experience.

Man left dangling upside down, pantsless after Vail lift mishap

JANUARY 6–In a bizarre incident that will surely lead to litigation (or an out-of-court settlement), a skier at Colorado’s ritzy Vail resort was left dangling upside down and pantsless from a chairlift last Thursday morning. The January 1 mishap apparently occurred after the male skier, 48, and a child boarded a high-speed lift in Vail’s Blue Sky Basin. It appears that the chairlift’s fold-down seat was somehow not in the lowered position, which caused the man to partially fall through the resulting gap. His right ski got jammed in the ascending chairlift, and that kept him upended since his boot never dislodged from its binding. As seen in the photos on the following pages (which were snapped by fellow skiers), the Skyline Express lift was stopped shortly after the pair’s botched boarding resulted in the man dangling from the lift. The exposed skier was stuck for about 15 minutes before Vail personnel backed the lift up and successfully dislodged the unidentified man from the four-seat chair. The images on page four and five were taken by a local photographer who happened upon the rescue scene. In a statement released this afternoon, Vail Resorts, which operates the ski area, reported that the skier was not injured after being “suspended for approximately seven minutes.” The press release did not explain how the mishap occurred, only that “the man was caught on the chair.”

Any other proud moment anyone would care to divulge?  I was the victim of a depantsing in junior high.  A group of us were on our way to the science teacher’s desk and for some reason a fellow classmate had grabbed onto my back pocket and as I was walking, I suddenly felt a draft.  It was a good thing I had phys ed that day so I had a change of pants.  I did not stand around long enogh to see if the architect of the depantsing got the typical punishment of writing spelling words 15 times.

This morning while wiping the last of sandman’s dust out of my eyes, I turned on the local news.  One of the segments was a live broadcast from the area Children’s Wonderland attraction.  This followed a description of last minute book ideas for the last-minute shopper.   Well, the remote interviewer decided to get into the act complete with rim shots from a snare drum.  Try these titles:

• Danger by Luke Out
• Robots by Anne Droid
• You’ve Got to be Kidding by Shirley U. Jest

Thank goodness the large display of decorations and exhibits was much more entertaining than the puns and took me back to the number of times the family ventured to the city to walk through the wonderland.

Last summer, I posted on the story of a young little leaguer who was snubbed because he was TOO GOOD.  Well, maybe he can take a lesson from Ken Mink who at 73 years young is the oldest living college basketball player.  Mr. Mink is a 6′ shooting guard for Roane State Community College.  At first when he initially tried out for the team the other players, coaches, everyone involved though it was some kind of hoax and the man just escaped an insane asylum. However, there is more to the tale.

In his earlier days after a successful Freshman season (1955-56), Mink was excused from Lees Junior College in Jackson, KY.  He was called to the President’s Office and was expelled from the institution for soaping the basketball coach’s office and putting shaving cream in his shoes… although Mr. Mink denies it more than 50 years later.  No due process in those days so the youngster had no recourse but to go home, but was never far from the courts (basketball).

Along with Ken is his wife of 11 years, Emilia (68), who can be seen at every game wearing a retro- cheerleading outfit of poodle skirt, sweater, saddle shoes, and pom-poms.

You can watch Ken Mink in action here… number 54.  Although he is eligible for three more seasons, the athlete feels that one will be enough.  Way to go!!!

I have heard of two possible heirs to the seat about to be vacated by New York Senator Hilary Clinton, one that sounds at least plausible, the other laughable at best.  Fran Drescher that nasally toned actress who graced television screens a few years back as a domestic goddess has announced that she has her eye on the prize.  One would hope that her political saavy is better than the one she exhibited as The Nanny.  By the way, did you know that she was in the cast of the motion picture Saturday Night Fever?  She played the role of “Connie”.  Sorry I don’t know anymore beyond that.  For all of you This Is Spinal Tap fans, Ms. Drescher played Bobbi Flekman.  Of course, she could be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger and be the next politician whose voice you cannot stand. Although she could take her aspirations beyond the governator.  I’m glad I do not live in New York.  By the way, another possible candidate is the totally unknown Caroline Kennedy.

Be ready to have another second in 2008.  It seems that the Earth’s rotation is continually slowing and to make up for it, a leap second is being added on December 31 at 6:59:59 p.m EST.  This is not the first time the phenomenon has occurred.  Leap seconds have been inserted on numerous occasions since 1972 and the most recent one was on New Year’s Eve 2005.  To read a more in depth explanation click here.

I have no idea how many people will be glued to their clocks and watches (the invention of atomic clocks was mentioned in the article) at one second til 7 on 12-31.  However, it could have happened in the middle of the night when people are sleeping.  Of course, it will be the middle of the night somewhere at that time.  However, by the time some think to remember about the leap, it willl be over.  Unlike this post… does it seem like I am reaching for a topic?

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CNNMoney.com) — Wal-Mart – expected to benefit this holiday season from its deep discounting in a tough economy – had its Black Friday marred when an employee was trampled to death as thousands of people rushed through the doors at the opening of the store in Valley Stream, N.Y.

Police said the man, identified as 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour, was a temporary employee who lived in New York City’s borough of Queens.

In addition, police officials said a pregnant woman was taken to a local hospital, but was expected to be released Friday.

Video footage showed as many as a dozen people knocked to the floor in the stampede of people trying to get into the Wal-Mart store, according to Nassau County Police detective Lt. Michael Fleming. The employee was “stepped on by hundreds of people” as other workers attempted to fight their way through the crowd, Fleming said.

“We expected a large crowd this morning and added additional internal security, additional third party security, additional store associates and we worked closely with the Nassau County Police,” said Hank Mullany, Wal-Mart’s vice president for the Northeast, in a statement. “Despite all of our precautions, this unfortunate event occurred.”

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those impacted,” he added, saying the company is cooperating with authorities in their investigation. (Full story)

Around the nation, shoppers descended upon Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) en masse in hopes of scoring Black Friday discounts. From New Jersey to Dallas, there were reports of hundreds of shoppers lining up before stores opened, looking for $2 DVDs and flat-panel TVs priced just under $400.

At the Fairfax, Va., location, the scene was social. Hundreds queued up before doors opened at 5 a.m., with some having arrived the night before in order to be among the first to shop.

“We skipped Thanksgiving dinner,” said 30-year-old Arash Habiezadeh.

Wal-Mart, which operates more than 4,100 U.S. stores and 3,100 international locations, is expected to be a big winner this holiday season as its discounts resonate with budget-conscious shoppers. The company has been aggressively courting customers by lowering its prices and introducing holiday-gift sections in stores.

“Even with the economy, you’ve got to go with the deals,” said Robert Balboni of Centreville, Va., while loading his shopping cart with a 42-inch flat panel TV, a portable DVD player and a Philips 2GB MP3 player.

Wal-Mart has already shown signs of benefiting from the economic slowdown. Same-store sales, or sales at retail stores open at least a year, gained 2.4% in October, beating the company’s own forecast.

Overall, the U.S. retail sector is expected to endure one of its worst holiday seasons in years. Sales are projected to climb just 2.2%, according to the National Retail Federation, making it the weakest sales gain in six years.

Unfortunately, the holiday temp working at a Wal-Mart store near New York City drew the short straw and found out first hand what a stampede feels like.  He obviously stood in the wrong place as the thousands of shoppers stormed the store at 5AM on Friday morning.  I worked at a Wal-Mart store for 6 years and only once had the pleasure of witnessing the mad rush enter the store in search of items at ridiculously low prices.  What got me was the fact that once the employee was down, the herd did not stop but kept on going.  When the store decided to shut down for rest of the day to investigate, shoppers were indifferent.  Some had been standing in line since Thursday morning.  All this for a $9.00 Incredible Hulk DVD?

While I worked at a Wal-Mart, I had a very good friend who actually volunteered to unlock the door to release the hounds.  Most brave on her part.  Now, the last I knew, she is the Manager of the Automotive Department.

I learned of the tragedy on Friday when I ran into another person whom I worked with.  She had just heard it on the news.  There was also a pregnant woman who was knocked down and taken to be examined; however, she and the baby were uninjured.  Perhaps taylhis was right in not venturing out into the battlefield?

Each week the hometown newspaper has a column entitled, “Did you know?”  It is a list of little known facts (little known to the general public… there maybe some who do know everything).  A few of these are facinating:

Did you know…

• that until 1978, Camel cigarettes contained minute particles of real camels (Always wondered how they came up with that name)
• that in 1943, a Parisian street mime got stuck in his imaginary box and consequently died of starvation (I would have guessed suffocation or claustrophobia)
• that you should never hold your nose and cover your mouth while sneezing, as it can blow out your eyeball
• that aardvarks are allergic to radishes, but only during summer months (I like to think that I am alergic to them year-round)
• that approximately one-sixth of your life is spent on Wednesday’s (why could it not be on a Friday or Saturday on game nights?)
• that polar bears can eat up to 86 penguins in a single setting
• that every three days a human stomach grows a new lining (what happens to the old ones?)
• that watching an hour-long soap opera burns more calories than watching a three-hour long baseball game (must be from the laughing one does while watching the suds.  I would have to disagree especially when watching a football game at C & L’s… of course that is not baseball)
• THAT IN SARATOGA FLORIDA IT IS ILLEGAL TO SING WHILE WEARING A BATHING SUIT (why and how about singing in the nude… not that I would want to push the envelope)
• that about one-third of all Americans flush while still seated on the toilet (ok…)
• that on average, every chocolate bar contains at least three insect legs (mmm…. good)

Now that I have educated you all, go out and have a Snickers bar, go to Saratoga and sing in your bathing suit,  and laugh those calories away watching a soap opera.

This morning before going to work, I caught a few moments of Good Morning America.  One of the segments featured a pair of monkeys employed as waiters at a tavern in Japan called Kayabukiya.  I’m not entirely sure what all goes on in the tavern except that the pair passes out hot towels to the customers as they order their first drink.  No word on their rate of pay but they are tipped generously in boiled soya-beans.  According to the report on GMA, many people have complimented the simians and noted that they are better than some human servers they have had previously.  The names of the pair are Fuku-chan  and Yat-chan. But check out the link to see the monkeys in action.  I wonder if the owners of Kayabukiya are breaking any animal labor laws… cruelty to animals and such.   Not sure if PETA operates worldwide.

HELLO EVERY PEOPLE!!!  I a come a to you live from Hamilition, In diana in America country, yes?  On day of Sun, Obamalasa come to vist small town near home of strange person.  A person who a shop at market where strange person work say he a go see Obamalam and got photo with him.  He a eat food, take photography, shake a his hand, and kiss a baby.  Is a dis how people become new owner America country?  Man at markey he  say he could not get to water hole in Hamilition, In diana very easy, but they a get there somehow.  It’s a too bad for Morat… he a not get to Hamiliton, In diana fast enough to see Obamalad.  But he a keep going until he a see him again.  A Happy Day of Labor to a you all.  I a no understand… why you a celebrate work?  A very strange  custome

I recently came across an article containing information I have not previously known. It seems that one of my favorite characters in pop culture (most of my readers know who I am speaking of)was seemingly created in the wake of a mystery on the streets of Cleveland, Ohio. On Thursday June 2, 1932, Mitchell Siegel, a Jewish immigrant from Lithuania was in a secondhand clothing store. Three men entered the store. One asked to see a suit and left the store without paying for it. In the commotion, Siegel collapsed and died. The police report stated that one gunshot was fired. However, the coroner’s report stated that the man died of an apparent heart attack. The robber fled the scene and was never caught.

Mitchell Siegel, age 60, was the father of Jerome Siegel one of the two teenagers who created Superman !!!

Comics writer Brad Meltzer has penned a fictional tale in the tradition of The Da Vinci Code that intriguingly connects this mystery with the fratricide of Kane and Abel: The Book of Lies.