Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Turkey Fryer House Fire in Kansas

A few years ago around Thanksgiving, my friend and blogger Chris Knight of Reidsville, NC, jokingly said he was going to deep fry puppies in a turkey frier. Of course, those of us who know Chris, who once ran for a local school board office with an over-the-top Star Wars-themed campaign ad, knew he was kidding.

That was the first time I had heard about turkey fryers, but apparently they are a major source for potential house fires as a family in Olathe, Kansas, found out last night.

According to a tweet from KCTV-5, a Kansas City tv station, a turkey fryer caused a blaze that did $1,000 in damage. The fire started in the house garage. A caller to 911 reported flames and a short time later local firefighters discovered smoke coming from the garage. No one was hurt by the fire.

The Olathe Fire Department is urging folks to take precaution when using turkey fryers over Thanksgiving.

We must profess that when we usually use the term Turkey, we are referring to my late father's country. But, this leads us to one of today's leading trending topics on Twitter today, which is Eid Mubarak in honor of a Muslim holiday. So, we will say Eid Mubarak to our friends in Istanbul, Karachi, Tashkent, Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo and Boones Mill, Va.----I think those folks in rural Franklin County are really gonna hate our guts now!

Since Nancy Pelosi retained her leadership position among House Democrats over Cong. Heath Schuler of North Carolina (a conservative Democrat), she is also trending well in Washington, DC, according to Twitter.

And, of course, the same can be said for the new royal couple of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Is it just me, or are they becoming even more annoying than the Palin family?!

Quote of the Week- Joan Baez

Today, we profile right-wing blow-fish Glenn Beck's favorite singer Joan Baez (that is a joke for those of you in Tashkent, Uzbekistan!) with a quip from her.

Baez who was recently in North Carolina for a concert in Raleigh will be resuming her tour shortly.

Among her fall dates are a performance at The Unity Temple in Kansas City, Mo., on Oct. 5 along with concerts at The Englet Theatre in Iowa City on Oct. 6 and The Wisconsin Union Theatre in Madison (where The University of Wisconsin is) on Oct. 8.

Here is the quote from this '60s icon and folk-singing legend:

"Hypothetical questions get hypothetical answers."

Things We Learned From Twitter This PM-Nebraska May Defect

It seemed like my efforts to find out if anything new or extraordinary was going on in the world when I was checking tweets an hour and a ago was going to turn up nothing new or extraordinary.

But, then I read a tweet from KCTV, a Kansas City television station, which said the following:

"Orangebloods.com said Nebraska regents have informally agreed to leave for Big Ten. A formal announement will come Friday."

Does this mean that The University of Nebraska will now have in-conference rivalries with the likes of Ohio State, Illinois and Wisconsin instead of Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas State?

The Corn Huskers are known nationally for their football program, but the school in Lincoln, Neb., also has outstanding programs in both women's volleyball and women's gymnastics.

The Lady Huskers volleyball team is now touring China according to the Nebraska athletics' web site.

Similary, the school's women's gymnastics team finished seventh at the NCAA championships in Gainesville, Fla., in April. They were lead this past season by seniors Kathryn Howard and Kylie Stone (pictured here).

Erin Davis, a standout junior, returns to the squad next year. During a meet with Illinios and Minnesota, Davis scored a perfect 10 on the vault.

SIDEBAR: I want to congratulate fellow Radford University alumnus John Marks who graduated from Highlander U in 2007 (11 years after I did). Marks was named Teacher of the Year for the City of Roanoke, Va. (my hometown) recently. He is a sixth and eighth grade math teacher at James Madison Middle School.