Happy Leap Year!!!
I’m not sure I’d want to visit Colombia in person, but a virtual trip to Bogota should be a piece of cake. Bogota is the largest city in the country. There are many historic buildings and landmarks. There are museums, art galleries, libraries, theaters, parks, and sports venues.
Today in history:
- 1896 – Actor/director William A. Wellman was born. He directed the movie Wings which was the very first film to win an Academy Award.
- 1904 – Bandleader Jimmy Dorsey was born.
- 1916 – Singer/actress Dinah Shore was born.
- 1936 – Baby Snooks, played by Fanny Brice, debuted on the radio program The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.
- 1940 – Actress Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American to win an Academy Award for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind.
- 1960 – The cartoon strip Family Circus made its debut.
Learned about an hour ago that the lead singer of The Monkees, Davy Jones passed away this morning at age 66. He’d apparently had a heart attack.
On TV tonight: Ghost Hunters International, Psych, and Top Guns
Reading: I’m reading a boys’ mystery/adventure from the 1950s called Smuggler’s Reef by John Blaine (the pseudonym of Hal Goodwin).
We’re going to take a whirlwind trip to visit several Middle Eastern locations with Roman ruins. Of course the way things are currently in the Middle East, you couldn’t pay me to visit these places in person, but online? Piece of cake!
We’ve had two celebrity deaths the past few days. James Farentino died at age 73 on the 24th. And yesterday Robert Hegyes died at age 60. Farentino was in many shows over the years but Hegyes is best remembered for his role as Juan Epstein on Welcome Back, Kotter.
On TV tonight: tonight is the series finale of Chuck which makes me rather sad even though they’ve really taken the show as far as it could go. We also have a new episode of Fringe.
Reading: Now I’m reading Viridis by Calista Taylor. This is a steampunk romance. It’s good, so far.
I can’t believe I forgot to blog yesterday. 
Anyway… today we’re headed to Central America and the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal was one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th Century. It connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, eliminating the need for ships to sail around the southern tip of South America. The canal is currently undergoing expansion to accommodate our mammoth cargo ships (mammoth as in large not cargo ships that carry mammoths 
). There are some great pictures and links in the article.
Well, I ordered my new desk calendar today. So we’ll have plenty of new sites to visit next year.
Today in history:
- 1888 – German film director Friedrich Murnau was born. Never heard of him? He’s best known for directing the silent film horror classic Nosferatu which was based on Bram Stoker’s book Dracula.
- 1905 – Actor/comedian Cliff Arquette was born. He was best known for his character Charley Weaver. He’s also the grandfather of Patricia, Rosanna, and David Arquette.
- 1908 – A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Messina, Sicily killing over 75,000. See? Massive earthquakes are nothing new.
- 1912 – The first city-owned streetcars took to the streets in San Francisco, California.
I heard something yesterday that really surprised me. Cheetah, the chimp from the 1930s Tarzan movies, died at age 80. I had no idea he was still living!
On TV tonight: not much except a new episode of Decoded
Reading: Finished up No Rest for the Wiccan last night and now I’m reading Fire Ice by Clive Cussler. I always enjoy his books. 
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