I'm from the Lou and what I do is a Lou thing

Above lyrics from "Midwest Swing" by Nelly

I'm on a local kick lately. I was looking online and found these facts about our hometown. St. Louis may not be as stupid and unimpressive as some of you may think.

• The cocktails, Planter's Punch and Tom Collins, were invented at a St. Louis hotel, the Planter's House
• The custom of placing chocolates on hotel pillows begins here when the actor Cary Grant stayed at the Mayfair and used chocolate to woo a woman friend
• The first Jewish congregation west of the Mississippi was founded here as was the first library west of the Mississippi
• The Missouri Botanical Garden is among the top three botanical gardens in the world
• The first ironclad boat was built by James Buchanan Eads in the Port of St. Louis. Eads also invented the diving bell to salvage steamboat wrecks from the Mississippi River and built the first bridge using steel truss construction - the 1874 Eads Bridge
• St. Louis offers more free, major visitor attractions than anyplace outside of the nation's capital, including the Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis Zoo, Cahokia Mounds, Museum of Westward Expansion, St. Louis Science Center, Missouri History Museum, Anheuser-Busch Brewery, Grant's Farm and more
• The first kindergarten in the U.S. was founded in St. Louis by Susan Blow
• Peanut Butter was invented here
• St. Louis was the first American city to host the Olympic Games (1904)
• The Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space capsules were built in St. Louis by McDonnell Douglas - now Boeing
• The world's first skyscaper - Louis Sullivan's Wainwright Building - was built in St. Louis
• Charles Lindbergh flew mail routes into St. Louis and named his plane "Spirit of St. Louis" to thank the businessmen who provided financial backing for his solo Atlantic flight in 1927
• The nation's first interstate highway was constructed here
• The Gateway Arch - at 630 feet - is the nation's tallest man-made monument
• The Mississippi River runs 2,350 miles from Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The word "Mississippi" comes from the Anishinabe people (Ojibwe Indians). They called the river "Messipi" which means "Big River"
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains a navigation channel nine feet deep in the center of the river
• St. Louis was the site of the demonic possession incident that inspired the book, and later the movie, "The Exorcist"
• The ice cream cone and iced tea were both invented at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis
• St. Louis was once the largest shoe-manufacturing center in the world -- home of Buster Brown and other famous brands
• The largest collection of mosaic art in the world graces the walls and ceilings at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis in the Central West End neighborhood
• St. Louis is home to the oldest institution of higher learning west of the Mississippi River - Saint Louis University
• Hawken Rifles and Murphy wagons, used by the western pioneers, were made in St. Louis
• The soft drink Dr Pepper was introduced at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis and 7-Up also was invented in St. Louis
• The first lung cancer operation was performed in St. Louis
• St. Louisans consume more barbecue sauce per capita than any other city in America
• Delmar Boulevard was named after the states Delaware and Maryland
• Berlin Avenue was changed to Pershing Avenue during World War I due to anti-german sentinent

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!

Congrats to the St. Louis Cardinals for winning the NLDS. They now go to the NLCS to face either Atlanta (fingers crossed) or Houston (boooo! hiss!!!). I congratulate them, knowing full well that they don't read my blog, but who cares.

The bonfire last night was really quite a good time!

HAUNTED HOUSE NEWS:

Date : Monday, October 17, 2005
Place to Meet : My Place (2833 Innsbruck) Call for directions!
Time : We are leaving at 8 pm. Please be here by 7:30 or 7:45. If you need us to wait, let me know
What Haunted Houses : Silo-X, The Crematory, and the Creature (all for 20 dollars)

EVERYONE IS WELCOME! I'm gonna need drivers though, as I can't fit everyone in my car.
Contact me if you'd like to drive. If no one volunteers, we're SOL.

I think that's about it. I now return you to your regularly scheduled life, already in progress.

MUSIC --> Moby "Flower"