Rumors. He said she said…

Question: Is what you are telling me right now going to be edifying to my soul? Am I a part of the problem or solution of which you speak? Are you asking for my advice which you plan to completely ignore? Are you talking about my neighbor or the guy down the street? Did someone ask you to keep this information to yourself? Will telling me this damage someone’s reputation even though you did not hear it straight from the original persons mouth? Would you stand up in court and swear this is the truth if going to jail would be your result if it wasn’t?
Then shuddup yer face and go do something positive for the community!

Sorry, just had to get that off my chest.

House Majority Leader and Delaware State Representative Wayne Smith (R-Brandywine Hundred North) has resigned his House seat and will be leaving his position as of March 12.

Smith, 44, said he was getting out of politics to take a job with the Delaware Health Care Association, a trade organization that represents health-care businesses.

Smith has been House Majority Leader since 1996, and a House member since 1990. I was hoping he would be our governor someday, or the guy who finally knocked Biden or Carper out of office…oh well….

I’m going to have to start with the scandalous story of Craig Bellamy allegedly losing it in Portugal and attacking fellow Liverpool team mate John Arne Riise with a golf club in the middle of the night. Apparently it began at a karaoke bar when Bellamy tried to get Riise up on the stage to sing a duet, and Riise backed out.

ANYWAY, Liverpool went on to beat Barcelona a few days later and watch how Bellamy celebrates his goal with a golf swing, he then goes on to make the assist to Riise’s game winning goal…yeah, the same guy he allegedly went after with a golf club….

Sir Elton John put none other than David Beckham on the auction block at his Oscar party Sunday night. Sean “P Diddy” Combs’ $65,000 bid for a one hour soccer lesson for four wasn’t enough, with the winning bidder shelling out a whopping $75,000 for Becks and then putting him BACK on the auction block raising another $40,000 for charity. (Putting Becks BACK on the shelf? I couldn’t do it.)

In more Beckham news, and there is always a lot of it, rumors are swirling that Becks’ triumphant return from the bench for Real Madrid could mean he may be heading back to the English national team after his teary good bye as captain following the humiliating last round of World Cup play for England. (You know, when England lost to Portugal after Manchester United team mates Wayne Rooney and Christian Ronaldo mixed it up, resulting in Rooney getting red flagged while Becks cried on the bench after hurting his leg…)

Speaking of the 2006 World Cup…apparently it was much more entertaining than previously thought…Germany is preparing for a “World Cup Baby Boom” with maternity wards and birthing classes at capacity. And no wonder, the Italian national team was quite inspiring. And they won the World Cup, too.

And in painful news that you just have to see the video link of to believe, Chelsea’s John Terry got kicked in the head and knocked out cold on the pitch against Arsenal this past weekend. He swallowed his tongue and went into convulsions, and despite all of that, apparently Terry will be back this weekend to play against Portsmouth…didn’t he just return to the game from back surgery?

A library without books?? Much as I love my computer, no matter my incessant curiosity and ‘need to know’ at the click of a mouse, it never has replaced the written word for me…nor will it. My love of books was engendered by my father who took me to the city adult library at the age of three, setting me down with an encyclopedia while he perused his selections for the week. No…I don’t claim to be reading at that age but the illustrations at every turn of a page kept me interested enough to return with him every week. And once in school, couldn’t wait until old enough to get my own library card. By the time I was thirteen I had cards for two public libraries plus the one in school. Wasn’t but a very few years later, once I joined the work force, I bought my books to supplement those I borrowed. Granted, I haven’t had a library card for many, many years…preferring to buy and keep my reading material but a library without books?

I’m trying to imagine grabbing a book as one flies out the door of a morning…stuffing it into a pocket or bag…in the hope that there will be a few minutes during the day when few more pages can be turned…a novel, bio, general information to be read or gleaned during a lunch-break, sitting on a bus or train, waiting for the oil-change. Turn on the computer and…where’s the scent of wood pulp, highlighters are useless, no notes in the margins possible. Pick up a book and there is no need to plan ahead for batteries, plug-ins, nobody peering over your shoulder at a monitor. Power outage? No problem…you can read a book by flashlight (cigarette lighter if desperate!). You can read a book while still lounging on the couch, fall asleep with your open pages shielding your eyes from the light…24/7/365 if you like. No time limit!

Oh, sure…you can argue that a PC, laptop, notebook, blackberry are more convenient, more efficient. Maybe they are…but there is nothing quite like seeing shelves upon shelves of the written word, holding a book in anticipation of what you will find between the covers and letting your imagination run riot with the visuals created only by words. Oh, sure, this is a colllege library…sorry, media-center, but no books in a library can no books at all be far behind?

Shift happens, right enough.

I received this report from local photographer and Reserve Ranger, Gary Cooke, about a harp seal coming ashore in Lewes this weekend…and is this thing cute or what?

On Sunday, February 25, 2007 a young Harp Seal took refuge on the point at Cape Henlopen. Discovered at approximately 9:30am by Park Employees the pup appeared healthy but tired. The MERR Institute, a Lewes based Marine Education Research Rehabilitation nonprofit group, was notified. MERR is Delaware’s only marine mammal & sea turtle rescue program.

Volunteers from MERR responded to watch over the 3.5 foot pup as it slept most of the day. The afternoon snowfall seemed to be a welcome occurrence for this pup. Harp Seals are nicknamed “ice seals” because they breed and whelp on the ice. They range south from the Canadian Arctic and often seek refuge in our area during this time of year. By the coloration of this pup it could be from 1 to 4 years of age. As the sun went down Sunday evening this youngster was spotted nibbling fresh fallen snow and sliding around the beach on it’s belly.
 
Anyone coming across this or any marine mammal on our beaches should keep their distance. These are wild animals, and even though they are very cute, they can inflict serious injury to you or your pets. (One more reason to always have your pets on a leash on the beach.) Seals can be in distress and anyone within 1000 yards may cause them harm through added stress. Some infections and parasites could harm you or your pet. Never try to touch a beached marine mammal or sea turtle. If you spot a beached marine mammal or sea turtle notify MERR immediately at (302) 228-5029 or NRC  Fish & Wildlife at 1-800-523-3336.
 
To learn more visit www.merrinstitute.orq or email merrins@earthlink.net

The little critter, according to the latest update from Cooke, went back into the ocean this morning and is on it’s way to “parts unknown.”

And if you’re interested in helping out, MERR could always use donations, they do a lot of good with just a little bit of money.

The Milton Arts Guild is hosting a Members’ Fine Art Show this Saturday, February 24th, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at the Milton Fire Hall located on Front Street in the heart of downtown Milton. And the admission is free, I love free.

This should be a great show with work from some of the finest artists in the region like Pamela Bounds-Seemans and her colorful and affordable creations, local Milton photographer Gary Cooke, who captures images of Sussex County that are familiar and beautiful, and the mesmerizing work of Abraxas, pictured below.

You can contact the Milton Arts Guild at 302-684-0590 or on the web at MiltonArtsGuild.org.

A quick P.S.: The two Abraxas works pictured above are the ones he brought into the studio when I interviewed him on the air this past Wednesday. Wait until you see them full sized, you literally get lost in them. They’re just breathtaking.

UPDATE: I went and it was great. They had a lot of food and drinks, all complimentary, and there was a nice sized crowd. I was impressed with one work in particular, it was a chocolate lab with a canvas back in it’s mouth by an artist named Chris Kiker. It just really stood out. My son got Gary Cooke’s photograph of a Beaver, and he and Gary took some time to tell tales about going out on the ice.

I left with a Pamela Bounds-Seemans painting of the Deer Park that I had to take a picture of and put right down there because it makes me smile…

 I can’t resist when she does stuff like the skyline of Wilmington or Dolly’s, you know, the things that you love about Delaware, and I certainly have a soft spot for the Deer Park from my U of D days. And look, she even has little beer mugs (I still have my mug somewhere) and ravens in the corners….

Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin, possibly the most annoying Judge I’ve ever seen preside over a courtroom, has given Anna Nicole Smith’s body to the court appointed lawyer of Smith’s 5 month old daughter, Dannielynn. And it’s about time, Smith’s body has been sitting in a cooler for two weeks.

The Judge, “who choked up frequently and sometimes blubbered as he explained his decision,” told the court he wants Smith buried with her son, Daniel, in the Bahamas.

“I want them to be together.” - Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin

And frankly, that’s exactly the right call. The freaks surrounding Smith claiming to care about her should have been able to muster up the character to make that decision weeks ago. Smith may have been a total trainwreck, but it was clear she loved her son.

Following the lead of the US Open and the Australian Open, The All England Club has decided to dole out equal purses for men and women at Wimbledon. Now…I may be flushing years and years of taking Women’s Studies courses at the University of Delaware down the toilet, but I’m failing to see where the “equality” is when you pay women the same prize money as men at Wimbledon.

The concept of equal pay for women is tied to another concept, EQUAL WORK. The men play a 5 set match and the women only play a 3 set match, which is significantly shorter. It’s like paying a woman who works 20 hours a week the same salary as a man who’s working 35 hours a week while doing the same job, and there ain’t no “equality” in that.

David Beckham was back on the field for Real Madrid last week, scoring a goal against Real Sociedad, and yeah, he bends it. Real Madrid went on to win 2-1, their first win in a quite a while, and the first time Becks’ fine tush wasn’t warming the bench in over a month. (Now that “fine tush” link is pretty racy and not for the faint of heart, and if it was a song, Tipper Gore would certainly demand a large warning label for it.) This week, however, wasn’t quite so good for Beckham, who received a red card for a cheap shot from behind.

Meanwhile back in England…despite the American invasion over at Fulham in the English Premier League, Fulham failed to move to the quarterfinals in the FA Cup after Tottenham crushed them 4-0. 4-0. Tisk.

Update: The fallout from the fateful rioting at the Palermo v. Catania game in Italian Serie A football (soccer) that left one Italian policeman dead, has resulted in a fine and a ban on spectators and home games for Catania until June 30.

And former Formula One driver and CART Champion, Juan Montoya, came in a less than impressive 19th at the Daytona 500 this past weekend, proving the ability to turn left AND right isn’t an advantage in NASCAR. (I just couldn’t resist that.)

Now THAT’S putting your political aspirations on the line to take a controversial stand. And why is Senator Clinton against the Confederate flag flying on South Carolina Statehouse grounds?

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that South Carolina should remove the Confederate flag from its Statehouse grounds, in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war.

“I think about how many South Carolinians have served in our military and who are serving today under our flag and I believe that we should have one flag that we all pay honor to, as I know that most people in South Carolina do every single day,” Clinton told The Associated Press in an interview.

Um, what?