Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Blue Shark Found in a River!

Zut alors! Wow! We are actually ahead in our blog entries as generally don't post this entry until Wednesday, which of course means we are neglecting vital aspects of our professional, social and personal lives, but we shall catch up even if it means hanging out at the Waffle House in Burlington, NC, (not where I actually am at the moment) until hmm.......4:35 a.m.!

Today, we learned from a tweet from "The Montreal Gazette" that a blue shark, a species which can grow up to 13-feet long, was captured in the St. Lawrence River in the Quebec province of Canada.

Fisherman who were trolling the river in the Gaspe region of Quebec found the blue shark sometime during daylight hours on Sunday.

The shark has been sent to the Exploramer Museum for further study.

Canadian blue sharks are more commonly found off the Atlantic Ocean of Nova Scotia.

Perhaps, the next time the San Jose Sharks of the NHL come to play the Montreal Canadiens, they can ask if the fish can become their mascot....?!

SIDEBAR: The Internationalist Book Store in Chapel Hill, NC, has a unique project which continues on Aug. 25 as they invite area residents and customers to gather in the store from 6:30-8:00 p.m. to send books to prisoners who are serving time in Alabama and Mississippi. Perhaps, "The Count of Monte Crisco" will be one of the titles! The establishment is also featuring the book "Resisting Reagan" by UNC sociology professor Christian Smith. The book details how some 100,000 Americans marched in the streets to protest Ronald Reagan's involvement in the wars which afflicted El Salvador and Nicaragua during his time in office.

Friday GeoQuiz- How Large is Utrecht, Holland?

Wes


Since Holland is playing Spain for the World Cup title on Sunday, we thought we'd focus our dual GeoQuiz entries (the other one is on my other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Times) on the two countries involved.

For this entry, we focus on The Netherlands and the Dutch city of Utrecht. It is the fourth largest city in Holland, and the home to footballer Wesley Sneijder who has been a star player for the Dutch team. Sneijder also hails from Utrecht, which is also home to the Dom Tower (pictured above).

Utrecht is also the main rail hub of The Netherlands as well as one of Holland's leading cultural cities which like Amsterdam boasts lots of impressive canals. We presume there is good beer and cheese in Utrecht as well.

The city is also Sister Cities with the likes of Leon, Nicaragua, and Brno, Czech Rep.

One of our local bands (well, they are just down the road) The Carolina Chocolate Drops from Durham, NC, will be performing in Utrecht at The Rosa on Nov. 10. Closer to home, the band performs at Duke University in their hometown on Sept. 25. I saw them at a bluegrass fest in the rural hamlet of Eden, NC, two years and they were quite impressive!

Here is our question about Utrecht which we dedicate to ninth graders at Ragsdale High School in Jamestown, NC (near Greensboro) where a family friend is a member of the school's wrestling team:

How large is Holland's fourth largest city?

A) 275,000
B) 300,000
C) 350,000
D) 425,000

If you know the answer, I will send you a copy of "The Oak Ridge Boys' Greatest Hits" on eight-track!

SIDEBAR: We are always looking to see where people are visiting us from here on this blog. Today, we are wondering if anyone from Metz, France, or Paris, Texas, happens to stumble upon this entry. If you are from one of these towns or Utrecht, Holland, feel free to email us at tango74@aol.com

PS- The answer to last week's quiz was Slovenia.