April 11 - Lisa's Musings (from Sunday papers) and Every Day Life

The things I learn from reading the Sunday Free Press.

Truth be told, I don't want to read real news on Sunday morning, I want to read fun news. So, I skip all the hardcore stuff and head to the sorts of things below.

Here's my Top 10, complete with comments about the most interesting tidbits I read this morning.

In no particular order.

1. The (hapless) Lions are adding boxing as another way to train for the football season. Oh, goody, more potential excuses for penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Apparently, the players want to learn more about hand-to-hand combat. So, is this to fight off all the angry fans or what?

2. In southern Utah, homegrown Prairie Dogs will be honored on April 30 at Bryce Canyon.

I guess there's not a lot to actually honor in Utah, so, I'm all about giving these this endangered species a day to call their own.

But how will they know what time to show up for the party?

3. "Ugly Betty" ends its run on Wednesday. Betty's shed her braces and so goes the show.

I kinda liked it's aw-shucks premise and hope Betty rides off into the sunset happy. If nothing else, her teeth are gorgeous.

4. "Glee" returns on Tuesday. If you haven't given this very cute show a chance, try it out this week.

The cast was on "Oprah" last week, so if you want to keep up with coworkers at the water cooler Wednesday, tune in.

5. Look out Michigan, there's a political invasion about to take place on May 1.

I knew President Barack Obama would be the keynote speaker at U-M's graduation but I didn't know Sarah Palin would be in the state as well.

Palin will be Clarkston to speak at the Defending the American Dream Summit. Whatever that is.

Do you think either of them will bring any jobs with them?

6. Robins rule. I'm guessing you knew the robin was Michigan's (and Connecticut's and Wisconsin's) state bird?

According to the recent Great Backyard Bird Count, the 13th annual one by the way, robins rule the roost as the most counted bird. The count -- 1.85 million.

The Canada Goose can honk we're No. 2 with 748,356 counted.

7. Michigan has set an 11,742 bear limit for this season's bear hunting quota.

I had no idea that Michigan even HAD that many bear roaming around to shoot at, but I guess it's a big state, and the UP must see a lot of them.

8. Leave it to the Brits to try to change the game and the rules again. I guess they didn't learn their lesson in 1776.

Scrabble Trickster, a variant of the popular American board game, will allow proper names while playing.

Is absolutely nothing sacred on the other side of the pond?

9. Earth is expected to dodge a rather large celestial bullet, er, asteroid, Thursday.

The rock is estimated to be about 71 feet wide and is supposed to miss hitting our planet by a mere 223,000 miles.

Is that is real miles or just close enough for government work?

10. After reading a story about the S.S. Badger, I'd like to take a ferry ride across Lake Michigan from Ludington to Manitowac, Wis.

I've never been to Ludington but I have been to Manitowac and it's a very cool town.

According to the story, the S.S. Badger is the last coal-fired ship on the Great Lakes. It's also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It takes about 4 hours to make the 60-mile crossing; I think I'll add it to my To Do List.