I don’t know if any of you have had the chance to watch Kid Nation on CBS, but I did watch a couple episodes and it was quite annoying. Besides the fact that it seemed incredibly staged and that I don’t know a lot of 10 year olds with the vast vocab that some of these kids have, the episodes were just drawn out. Most of the kids seem like they were wannabe child actors and that’s how they got the “part” in the first place. Come on! One of the nine year old kids said his “hero” was Al Gore and that he had read the book An Inconvenient Truth. How many nine year olds are reading that?

I just hope they are offering life insurance for kids in case some of the children decide they are really living in the old west!

In the United States we have the custom of giving wedding bands or rings to each other when we get married. The custom actually started in ancient Egypt and the first rings were made from papyrus. Later, metal rings were made, but there were not very attractive due to rough metallurgy methods, so semi-precious and precious stones were usually set in them.

Here is an interesting fact: In certain countries (USA, UK, Brazil) the wedding band is worn on the base of the left ring finger. In most other parts of the world (such as Norway, Bulgaria, Germany, Russia), the ring is worn on the right ring finger. Be careful when you are traveling to other parts of the world, you may be mistaken for being single!

When I was little, I had a Tip Toe Turtle. I think every little kid had them. The turtle had a wooden cut out head and a blue (aqua) shell. When you pulled on the string the feet would click and chimes would play under the shell. I think they were manufactured in the early 60s. I remember pulling this toy around. I think it might still be out our house somewhere!

Blog Village is having is Quarterly Blog Village Family Carnival. If you have a blog and want to post about something fall related, check out the carnival. It is open to Blog Village Members and guests as well. Deadline for submissions has been extended to October 28th. The Carnival will be held at Advertising for Success. Good thing I don’t have a computer power supply repair job on the horizon and I can continue blogging!

When I posted about horse movies, it got me to thinking of one of my favorite movies – The Man From Snowy River. You might not recognize the name Tom Burlinson, but he played the lead role in the film 1982 film.

Tom was born February 14, 1956 in Canada to English parents. They later moved to New Jersey in 1958. In 1962, the family transferred to England and then later to Australia in 1965. He attended an acting school in Australia and was cast as Jim Craig in the 1982 Australia film, The Man From Snowy River which also starred Kirk Douglas. He appeared in a number of other films and starred with Nicole Kidman in the 1986 film Windrider. They dated for two years.

Tom is a big Frank Sinatra fan and was selected as the singing voice of the young Frank in a TV movie about Sinatra. In 1998, he created Frank, The Sinatra Story In Song. The show opened in Sydney and he has appeared in other cities as well.

Tom is married and has two children.

There is nothing that tugs at the heartstrings more than a great horse movie. It just makes you want to buy your own horse and equestrian riding apparel and gear! What have been the top grossing horse movies. Here is a list from 1980 to present:

1. Seabiscut (2003) – $120 million
2. The Horse Whisperer (1998) – $75 million
3. Spirit – Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) – $73 million
4. Hidlago (2004) – $65 million
5. The Electric Horseman (1979) – $61 million
6. Racing Stripes (2005) – $50 million
7. The Black Stallion (1979) – $37 million
8. Dreamer (2005) – $32 million
9. Flicka (2006) – $21 million
10. The Man from Snowy River (1982) – $21 million

The newest trend in home building is to have a small home theater installed. Before you agree to this expense, make sure you read the article How Home Theater Works on HowStuffWorks.com. This will explain the intricacies of setting up the theater from what kind of sound system you need to seating choices and home theater carpet choices. Also discussed are the different kinds of TVs that will work well in a home theater environment. You will also find a list of other great links to search if you want additional information.

The youngest child on the set of E.T. was Drew Barrymore. Drew was born February 22, 1975 in Culver City, California. E.T. was not her first role, she actually appeared in Altered States one year earlier. However, E.T. was her break out role. Unfortunately, Drew’s chidhood and teenage years were very troubled and filled with numerous drug rehabs. She started drinking alcohol at the age of nine. She wrote a book about her childhood – Little Girl Lost.

As she entered early adulthood, Drew kept her bad girl image and had nude scenes in various movies and posed nude for Playboy. Stephen Spielberg once sent her a quilt with the words “Cover Yourself Up” attached.

In 1996, Drew made a comeback in the film Scream and has started to calm down a bit. She has been very successful at romantic comedies including one of my favorites – The Wedding Singer.

One of my readers wants to know whatever happened to John J. York? She had seen him in a short lived television series about werewolfs back in the late 80s.

John J. York was born December 10, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois. He started acting in 5th grade. He made his way to California in 1983 and landed parts in a variety of television shows including Hotel, Dynasty and Newhart. In 1987 he starred as Eric Cord in a made for television movie – Werewolf. The movie was turned into a television series but only lasted 5 episodes

York now plays Mac Scorpio on the soap opera General Hospital. He is married and has one daughter.

You won’t have to visit a hobby shop to start this hobby called Scripophily. Scripophily got started in the mid-1970s and is the hobby of collecting old canceled stocks and bonds. The term comes from the word “scrip” which means and ownership right and the word “philos” which means to love. Currently, there are thousands of scripophily collectors all over the world. They mostly look for scarce and rare stocks and bonds. The hobby has become more popular recently with some collectors focusing on failed dot com companies and scandals.