News You Might Have Missed

I'm trying to get back into the saddle after having been away from this blog for a few days. And I have been a little busy at work, so I don't have as much time to spend with my blog. Don't you hate it when work interferes with pleasure?

Three things that I read tucked away in the insides of the newspapers I found to be quite interesting, so I will share them with you.

Tomoji Tanabe, 111, of Japan has been declared the world's oldest man by the Guinness Book of World Records. Tanabe received the title when Emiliano Mercado del Toro (isn't that some kind of bull in Spanish?) of Puerto Rico died at the age of 114. Ironically, the women's record holder, Yone Minagawa at 114, is also from Japan.

I saw a picture of Tanabe, and it's hard to resist the joke of saying that he doesn't look a day over 95, but really he looked pretty good for 111. I not sure how one would feel about being the oldest man or woman in the world. Mr. Tanabe apologized for living so long.

When asked about the key to his longevity, he said that he had refrained from the use of alcohol all of these years -- that 111 years probably seems like 222 to him. It's hard to believe that he never even drank sake. His neighbors said that he ate a lot of veggies and few fried foods.

But before long I will read about Mr. Tanabe passing on, and his obit will say that he died of boredom.

The second newspaper article reported that an 8-foot-long 170 pound alligator was removed Sunday from the home of a reptile enthusiast in Buffalo, New York. The man raised the gator from birth and when it grew too large for its cage, he built a bigger cage but finally had to turn him loose in the basement, albeit he had the basement fixed up nice for the reptile. A rattlesnake was also confiscated from the premises, but some 20 odd other reptiles were left with the man. This man has no hope of breaking Mr. Tanabe's record.

There was no mention of a Mrs. or girlfriend, and I think that I can understand why. His choice of roommates makes one wonder about his social skills.

And finally, three-century-old manuscripts by Sir Isaac Newton are being exhibited to the public this week for the first time. Newton, considered by many to be the world's greatest scientist, had a little-known passion for religion. He studied the Bible extensively and especially the Book of Daniel.

One of his purposes of Bible study was to try and determine when the world would end -- not so much as to set an exact time but to hush the naysayers of the day who were predicting the end at any time.

After all of his study, Newton concluded that the end of the world would come not before 2069. If Sir Isaac has gotten the date pretty close most of the people who read this will not break Mr. Tanabe's longevity record. However it is possible that I could roll in there at about 129. And they would say that Old John wore out -- he sure as hell didn't rust out.

Yall have a great day.