Presidential Quotes, (7 of 8): Gerald Ford

Greetings to our blog readers in Austria, Finland and Uruguay, where Jose Mujica is president and apparently he is also the poorest president in the world (ok, we asked Google who the president of Uruguay was).

Since these quips from the first and last eight presidents seem to be as popular as late-night vacuum infomercials, we thought we'd arbitrarily throw in a few names to boost our hits: Kate Middleton, Paris Hilton and Edward Snowden*: We don't actually give a fig about any of these people.

Here is our quote from Gerald Ford, who always enjoyed a good round of golf, and helped comic actor Chevy Chase rise to stardom; his presidential library is located in Ann Arbor, Mich.:

"I would hope that understanding and reconciliation are not limited to the 19th hole alone."


http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov

*-This is, in fact, the first time we've mentioned Snowden's name on this blog, though we gather people like Noam Chomsky and Ron Paul admire him.

10 People Who Will Decide Who Becomes President (6 of 10)_ Michigan

Name: Oscar Lee Davidson

Age: 45

Race: African-American

Residency: Kalamazoo, Michigan

Occupation: Car mechanic

Will Likely Vote for: Obama

In 2008, then-candidate Barack Obama won 12 out of 15 of Michigan's congressional districts, including four held by Republicans. Kalamazoo, in southwestern Michigan, is not a part of the state where Obama fared as well John McCain. Kalamazoo's metro area is located within the fourth district represented by Cong. Dave Camp (R) where McCain won 50-48 percent. The Arizona senator fared even better in the sixth district which is held by Cong. Fred Upton (R).

But, in urban area, such as Detroit, Obama decimated McCain; this includes the 14th district represented by Dem. John Conyers Jr. (D) which he carried by a whopping 86-14 percent. African-American voters also voted for Obama by a 95-4 percent margin and that number is expected to be similar this year.

The non-partisan "Politico," a daily web site and journal dedicated to politics has Obama winning Michigan, a key swing state, 49-41 percent.

Michigan is the home state of the very liberal filmmaker, activist Michael Moore, but the rural sector is very Republican, as is the case for most American states outside of New England. Michigan is also the birth state of Republican nominee Mitt Romney, whose late father Sen. George Romney represented the state.

The state has actually lost a point in the Electoral College; it was worth 17 points in 2008. It will be worth 16 points this year.

The Kalazmazoo-metro area has 336,589 residents according to the latest census. The local newspaper "The Kalamazoo Gazette" is dedicating a series to important issues that ballot-voters are considering in this year's election.

http://www.kalamazoocity.org

http://www.mlive.com/kalamazoo

http://www.michigandemocrats.com

http://www.migop.org

http://www.politico.com

Quote of the Day/Week-Gerald Ford

Today, we continue quoting the last eight American presidents with a quip from Gerald Ford (1913-2006) who was the 38th president and the one who lived in the longest. At the present time, the oldest living American president is George H.W. Bush with a Jimmy Carter (both born in 1924), who defeated Ford in the 1976 presidential election, being a close second.

There has been quite a political shift in the South since Carter, who was from Plains, Georgia, won over Ford, who was from Grand Rapids, Michigan, where his presidential library is located. In 1976, Carter won ever southern state except Virginia. All southern states had voted for George W. Bush in his two narrow elections, but in 2008, both Virginia and North Carolina voted for President Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain.

In pop culture, Ford was frequently parodied by "Saturday Night Live" actor Chevy Chase, who ironically became addicted to pain killers because of the prat falls he made while impersonating Ford.

Here is Ford's quote:

"I love sports. Whenever I can, I always watch the Detroit Tigers on the radio." http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.org

SIDEBAR: We forgot to mention last week that the answer to our April 17th edition of "The Rabbit Ear Quiz" was A) Robert Vaughn; he hosted the initial pilot episode of "In Search of...." which was hosted by Leonard Nimoy for the rest of the documentary tv show's run.

Bonus Picture to Fill Space- Big Trout

Wow! We have gotten a tad behind with blogging, so we will dedicate this entry to our outdoors equivalent, which is fishing (ok, so this could cause for debate).

This photo of man catching a big trout was taken somewhere in Michigan (we believe).

On Saturday, in Charleston, WVa., there will be a kids' fishing rodeo at Coonskin Park from 9:00 a.m.-noon; those who are interested can call (304) 341-8000 for more information. The participating children must be between 3-10 years old, from what we gather.

SIDEBAR ONE: Kudos to Boston College for winning the NCAA men's hockey title with a 4-1 win over Ferris State (Mich); the title game was played in Tampa, Fla.- of all places. For the winning Eagles, Steven Whitney scored two goals while goalie Parker Milner made 33 saves. The Eagles ended their season with a 19-game winning streak. The last team they lost to was Maine in a road game on Jan. 21.

SIDEBAR TWO: Additional congratulations are in order to the 12 NCAA Women's College Gymnastics teams which advanced to the NCAA finals in Duluth, Georgia, which get underway in one week. Here is a partial list of the qualifying teams, the other six will be listed on our sister blog: "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Times:"

Raleigh Regionals: 1) Florida 2) Ohio State; Fayetville, Ark., Regionals: 1. UCLA
2. Arkansas; Salt Lake City Regionals: 1. Utah 2. Nebraska

Quote of the Day/Week- Dr. Jack Kevorkian

This month, on Thursdays (days may vary depending on schedule), we will posting quips from famous people who died in 2011. Don't worry: Osama bin Laden will not be one of them.

But, there will be some controversial figures, including today's subject, Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928-2011) who died at age 83 on June 3, 2011, in Michigan.

Kevorkian served eight years of a 10-to-15 year jail sentence in Michigan for second degree murder. He was tried for assisting suicides four times. The assisted suicides happened between May 1994 and June 1997. These trials made Kevorkian an international celebrity.

Assisted suicide has also been highly debated in Switzerland, where it is allowed. But, this has lead to the 'suicide tourism' trend in which people with terminal illnesses come to Switzerland for assisted suicides or euthanasia. In 2008, 725 citizens from the United Kingdom came to Switzerland for this purposes.

Kevorkian was also an Armenian-American, and he was portrayed by Al Pacino in the HBO film biography "You Don't Know Jack." He lived and worked his whole adult life in his native Michigan.

Here is his quote: "Among doctors in general, I think more than half support what I am doing."

Bonus Road Trip- Hawaii (2 of 10)

Today, in our latest installment of road trips around the United States, we head to the island of Oahu in Hawaii for what is likely to be our shortest road trip.

Even though Hawaii is not one of the eight states I've never been to (not sure if this includes Michigan as I have been to the Detroit Airport to change planes), it is not a state that comes up very often. Though, Sarah Vowell, one of our favorite authors, has a relatively new book about how the Aloha State came to be one of the
50 states, even though Athens, Greece, is actually closer to Washington, DC, than Honolulu.

And, we go to Honolulu, which is home to the Pyramid Restaurant, an establishment serving Middle Eastern food, for our first destination. The Pyramid is located on Kapahulu Avenue.

For our next city on Oahu, we go to the KOA Pancake House (one of seven in the island-wide chain) on California Avenue in Wahiawa, which has a population of 16,000 folks.

Hawaii is, of course, known for other things besides the music of lounge singer Don Ho (1930-2007) whose biggest hit was "Tiny Bubble" in 1966 and pineapple, but we only have so much time!

So, our question today is just far apart are Honolulu and Wahiawa_ yes, you can get there from car!

Is the answer:

A) 32 minutes

B) 35 minutes

C) 38 minutes

D) 41 minutes

Program Reminder- Antiques Roadshow

Though I listen to NPR so much that Scott Simon should perhaps invite me over to breakfast at his neighborhood I-HOP or that I should win a free trip to St.Paul, Minn., to meet Garrison Keillor even though "A Prarie Home Companion" is one of the few shows I don't listen to, I neglect PBS.

I feel a bit guilty about that, so I that I would mention that "Antiques Roadshow" is on tonight at 8:00 p.m., eastern time. Perhaps, we can all find out how much a given Swiss cuckoo clock is worth.

According to what we gathered from the show's web site, tonight's episode will either be from Grand Rapids, Mich., or Louisville, Ky.

Road Trip- Vermont to Montana

Usually when we have an entry about coffee, we go with an image of Too Much Coffee Man, the beloved cult comic strip icon created by (mr) Shannon Wheeler in 1988. Wheeler, who now lives in Portland, Oregon, is actually a Facebook friend of mine, and I figured at some point he might get irked with me for using his beloved creation, that was turned into an opera!, without his permission. Wheeler's comic strips also included Too Much Coffee's beloved friend Too Much Espresso Man, who was a man with a little coffee cup over his head.

So, we are going with an image we saw on a poster at the late, great Backstreet Buzz coffeehouse in Reidsville, NC, instead.

And, our focus today is actually the distance between two coffeeshops which are very, very far apart.

The first of the two destinations is the Radio Bean, a coffeehouse in Burlington, Vermont, a city that is said to be one of the very best places to have coffee here in les etats unis.

The other coffee joint is Liquid Planet is Missoula, Montana, located in one of the eight states I have not physically visited (well, I did go to the Detroit Airport once to change planes so I'm not sure if Michigan should count as one of the eight, but I've definitely never been to Montana).

According to Mapquest, road construction around the Chicago suburb of Gary, Indiana, may pose problems for anyone who is actually traveling this route which would also go through southern Minnesota and South Dakota.

So, just how long would it take to get from Burlington, Vt., to Missoula, Mont.?

Here are your choices:

A) 40 hours, 45 minutes

B) 43 hours even

C) 45 hours, 15 minutes

D) 48 hours even

By the way, that is a bobblehead doll of a newlywed couple on a motorcycle heading on for a honeymoon. I imagine they would choose a trip that took considerably less time!

Status Update_ I am NOT Erupting Like Mt. St. Helens

It has been a crazy, hectic time here in Mudville, Va. (fictional town), but we are hoping to get back to blogging in the hopes that it might connect to the current Miss Turkey, Miss Brazil or well, maybe even Miss West Virginia.

But, in spite of all the zaniness, I have not erupted like Mount St. Helen's in Washington state. The famous volcano, which is now a national park (?!), had its famous eruption on May 18, 1980. It killed 57 people.

While researhing this, we found out that there is a minor league team in Oregon called the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. They are in the Northwest League and a farm team for the San Francisco Giants. They lost their last game to the Eugene Emeralds by a 4-3 score.

Oregon and Washington are two of seven states that I've never been to. I'm not sure if I should count Michigan among the other 43 because I've only been to the Detroit Airport.