I’ll meet you at the corner of 1251st & 849th

What is the highest numbered street in America? The answer appears to be 1251st Street in River Falls, Wisconsin. And if that weren’t enough, 1251st Street tees into 849th Avenue, for a nice even total of 2100! I would love to have a photograph of that street sign.

Just a stone’s throw from the St Croix River, this unique street corner is about 20 miles from St Paul, Minnesota as the crow flies.

Some things I learned from Mom

For Mother’s Day, some things I learned from Mom:

  • Read, read, read
  • Brush your teeth
  • Learn a foreign language
  • Appreciate the beauty of classical music and opera
  • Great-grandma Rose was a wonderful lady
  • Don’t leave yummy leftovers in the fridge where Mom can find them at 3am

Extra! Read all about it!

In the spirit of the day, I recommend to you the April Fool’s Day Database, a compendium of splendid hoaxes throughout history. Here are some of my favorites:

1940: The Association for the Prevention of April Fool Jokes (AFPOAFJ) issues guidelines to help people avoid becoming the victims of April Fool jokes.

1960: The national news in the Netherlands reports that the Tower of Pisa has fallen over.

1962: Sweden’s National TV explains that, thanks to the prismatic nature of light, viewers can instantly convert their black-and-white TV sets into color TVs. All they have to do is pull a nylon stocking over the screen.

1975: BBC reports about a controversy involving the Island of Foley, located off the Kent coast. The island was the cause of numerous shipwrecks; therefore, authorities had decided to destroy it. However, because this was protested by conservationists, authorities have decided instead to tow the island out to sea.

1986: The Parisien reports that the Eiffel Tower will be dismantled and reassembled at the new Euro Disney theme park east of Paris.

1994: Discover magazine reveals that an archaeologist digging in Jerusalem has discovered the Holy Grail.

2008: The BBC announces that camera crews filming near the Antarctic for its natural history series Miracles of Evolution have captured the first-ever footage of flying penguins. Instead of huddling together to endure the Antarctic winter, these Adélie penguins take to the air and migrate thousands of miles to the rainforests of South America where they “spend the winter basking in the tropical sun.” (A follow-up video explained how the BBC created the special effects of the flying penguins.)

And you thought there was only one…

solar-system-of-the-month1NASA  has probes on their way to Mercury, Pluto, and the asteroids Vesta and Ceres. But Great Caesar’s Ghost, why stop there? Now you can belong to the Solar System of the Month Club! Visit Gamma Hydra 4 during spring break, or Omicron Ceti 3 when Grandma and Gramdpa come to visit. You’ll find bargains in all the bazaars and markets because the dollar is very strong against the quatloo this winter. Book your flights now!