Happy Times at Hanauma

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Barack Obama and his wife had a great time in Hawaii this Christmas.  They spent their vacation at one of their favorite spots – the Hanauma Bay Park – a 40 minute drive from their rented Kailu Beach holiday home.  Good for them as every year they go to the Park on a Tuesday; it’s pretty empty as it’s closed to the public for maintenance.  They no doubt make a special exception for the President and the First Lady.  But Barack and his family sure do enjoy their annual Christmas vacation in Hawaii.

Underwater Activity

This year the Obamas did something extra cool.  They got the chance to release four 18-month-old green sea turtles into the water.  The turtles had been brought in from Sea Life Park and Obama’s daughters enjoyed them so much that later on in the day they went to visit the place the turtles had originated from.

Hawaii is quite an important place for Barack to take his family since it was the state in which he was born and lived as a child.  Thus it makes sense that he takes his wife and kids there on an annual vacation.

New Hampshire Inmates Bring Holiday Cheer to Seniors

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Last week, a few jail inmates from the New Hampshire area did something really positive over the Christmas season.  They were taken out of jail for just long enough to sing Christmas carols to senior citizens in the neighborhood. They were hardly the most harmonious, delightful singers, but the thought was there.  And the residents at the nursing home in Rockingham County, sure appreciated it.

The seniors had Rev. Kent Threlfall to thank for this endeavor.  The criminals’ singing to seniors was something that used to be organized quite a lot during different parts of the year, but has been put on the backburner over the last ten years or so.  Now, the jail inmates get together a few times a year to perform for seniors in the area.

After they sang their Christmas carols, they sat and spoke with the seniors and then enjoyed some apple crisp with them.  A good time was had by all.

Rhode Island to Save Energy and Costs

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By the end of February 2012, various state buildings will have their roofs fitted with solar panels, which will save energy in the state. Much of the financing for this project will come from federal stimulus funds. 

Beaches, parks and other areas will be getting the panels in the cities of: Charlestown, Exeter, Narragansett, North Kingstown, Providence, South Kingstown and Westerly. In addition, people in the areas will be able to use an online tracking tool so that they can monitor the electricity savings they are making from the various panels and wind turbines.  The panels will both help with energy-saving cost reductions and double up as an educational tool for those interested in the importance of the environment.  Hopefully this in turn will result in a greener Rhode Island.

Catching Some Colorado Culture

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A lot is going on in Colorado culturally right now.  If you  happen to be planning a visit to the state, you might want to do so around upcoming events and activities.  For example, next spring, the Denver Zoo will be privy to an Asian Tropics exhibit (that took $50m to construct), marking the largest bull elephant habitat in the world!  Also, at around the same time, the History Colorado Center will be putting on an experiential museum, where guests will be able to go for a ride in a time machine.

And for the explorer-would-be-scientist among you, take part in the interactive museum with more than a hundred exhibits that you can really get your hands into at the Fort Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center.  Use this to teach your kids about the world and how it works.

For those who are more of the outdoorsy type, come Christmas there will be a “Dig In” at the Winter Park’s Rail Yard Terrain Park’s Super Pipe.  Reduced water and energy consumption will be key to this, utilizing less man-made snow.  And then of course there is ski season at Cooper Mountain with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (U.S.S.A.) where an on-snow training center will be developed.  A new automated snowmaking system will also be put in.

Copper Mountain enters ski season in partnership with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (U.S.S.A.) to develop an on-snow training center at the resort. To support and develop the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper, the resort is implementing a new automated snowmaking system among other features.

So for cool culture and sports activities in Colorado, check out what’s going to be happening over the next few months.

US Town Names

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Some Remain “Nameless”

Years ago, it wasn’t so easy getting a name for your town in the United States of America.  Indeed, in 1880, a very small Travis County community set about the task as they wanted to get a post office in their town.  But a post office requires a town name!  So the community locals made an application, which was denied.  The next two suggestions were also rejected. Once they were up to six “no’s” a note of frustration and anger was sent to the US postmaster: “Let the post office be nameless and be damned!”  And that is why there is a town in Texas called Nameless.

It makes you wonder how the town in Oregon got its name of Boring…

But alas, it’s not quite as “exciting” as one may think (although the people of Boring use the slogan “the most exciting place to live”). The way its name came about was from a Union veteran named Boring who came to Oregon after the Civil War, having served with the 33rd Illinois Infantry, Company D.  He died at the ripe old age of 91, being buried with his wife at the Damascus Pioneer Cemetery.  In 1903, the post office was established and named after him: Boring, and thereafter his name was taken on for the community.

So, when you take a look at other interesting town names in America, you might first want to do a little bit of research before jumping to what are hopefully the wrong conclusions in some cases, such as: Hooker, Oklahoma, and Dicktown, New Jersey.  Still, I for one wouldn’t mind living in a place called Santa Claus, Georgia, should its name be at all meaningful and it enjoys Christmas every day…

LA Music Awards

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Earlier this week, the American Music Awards took place at LA’s Nokia Theatre. At the event, the country picked their favorite musicians.  Great music was heard, smiles were seen on the faces of the winners and fun performances graced the evening.  Nick Minaj and Taylor Swift won big time, with Swift taking three awards and Minaj two.  One award winner – Adele – was unable to attend as she had just undergone surgery.

Great Music Performances

Hit performances were enjoyed by Minaj and David Guetta.  Jennifer Lopez first sang solo and then with rapper Pitbull with “On the Floor.” LMFAO pop group joined David Hasselhoff (Baywatch actor) in a surprise performance along with Justin Bieber who came to the event with his girlfriend Selena Gomez.

Wise White Rockians

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While New Mexico’s White Rock town may be small geographically, it appears that it is rather large in the brain department.  Indeed, the 6,244 population of the town comes up pretty high on the academic scale. Indeed, almost 40 percent of adults living in White Rock have graduate degrees.  Next on the list is Eldorado at Santa Fe.  With a population of 5,973, 33 percent of its adults hold graduate degrees. 

But the city that really gets to the top of the brainy list is Chevy Chase Village.  With a population of 2,000, approximately two-thirds of its residents have graduate degrees.  Somerset and Shorewood Hills scored pretty high too.

The database, put together by BizJournals, comprises rankings of 10,450 in the 1,000 to 9,999 category.  It uses a five-rung educational ladder of the following milestones: a) those who dropped out before graduating high school; b) earned a high school diploma and then quit; c) got an associate degree or finished college but didn’t actually get a degree; d) bachelor’s degree; e) graduate and/or professional degree.

New Lake Champlain Bridge Opened

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On Monday, literally hundreds of people gathered on Lake Champlain Bridge to snap photos and celebrate the reconnection of the communities located on either side of the lake.

A much anticipated relief, the bridge will allow Vermont residents to return to their normal routines for the first time since the old bridge was closed in 2009. When the bridge was deemed unsafe two years ago, a 24-hour free ferry was instituted to carry commuters back and forth, which could not compare.

“They lost businesses. They called me in the middle of the night crying because they had traveled hours and hours to get to their jobs. This whole community was devastated without the bridge,” Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward explained. “Today, your life begins again,” she added.

In December of 2009, the bridge was destroyed by a controlled explosion, and reconstruction began the following spring once debris was removed from the lake. Both communities pushed their elected state officials to replace the bridge immediately, since designing and building a bridge of this dimension would typically take eight years.

“To replace the bridge that was here before and be here where we are today, in two years-time, is nothing short of a miracle,” said Duffy.

Kevin Durant Plays Flag Football With Kids of OKC

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On Monday, the NBA Star tweeted “This lockout is really boring…anybody playing flag football in okc… I need to run around or something!”

George Overbey, a player on Sigma Nu fraternity’s intramural flag football team at Oklahoma State, replied immediately, with little hopes he’d actually hear back from from Kevin Durant. But he was wrong; moments later, Durant responded, and before he knew what was happening, they exchanged phone numbers. The small forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder then picked Overbey and his friend up for the game.