Trivia and Sites

I came across two interesting (at least I thought so) trivia tidbits.

People who collect thimbles are digatabulists.

The late Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh worked at the Carlton Hotel in London in 1914 as an assistant pastry chef. He also worked for a brief time at Boston's Parker House Hotel. I wonder if he had anything to do with Parker House Rolls.

Now to the sites.

Last year the incredible Encyclopedia of Chicago was published. Now a searchable companion site has been developed. Lush is the word to describe this site. Hours and hours of fun.

Vegbay is an auction site very much like eBay, but it's for the vegetarian/vegan community. Take a look-very cool.

I've never been much of a cat person. I like them, but I'd never have one. For one thing, I'm allergic. For another they just seem to be a bit too independent for me. There's a newish breed of cat called the Savannah Cat. Apparently a woman bred an African Serval Cat and a domestic cat and Voila-Savannah Cat. When I first saw the Savannah Cat I thought it was an ocelot. I always have an odd feelings about these wild/domestic mixes. I know that there's always a big hoopla about the Wolf/Dog hybrids, and of course there's lots of reasons for those concerns. I just wonder how long it will be until some useless celebutant will be strutting around with one of these Savannah Cats stuffed up under her armpit.

Lastly check out Powertrips. A public broadcasting team, along with journalism graduate students, researched all the privately sponsored trips taken by members of the House and Senate since 2000. They discovered that lobbyists and other private groups spent over $14 million to fly our congresspersons around the world. Look up your own reps to see who's paying their airfare.
Must be nice to have someone else pick up the tab for spa treatments.