The Las Vegas Sphere (360 ft. tall), a $2.3 BILLION state-of-the-art music and entertainment venue, opened last weekend with a U2 concert. 18,000 people experienced mind-blowing optical illusions and stunning immersive visuals on the huge wraparound LED screen, which just happens to be the largest LED screen in the world and has the highest resolution. Fans entered several virtual worlds as the band played. The picture I saw from the inside looked like an outdoor concert at dusk. Yet another picture taken from a distance, made it look like a giant snow globe. Construction started in 2018. The fun has started.
Last night I ordered Green Antelope Horn Milkweed for the monarchs. It is a native plant to Texas. Milkweed gets such a bad rap because of that word WEED in the name (it is not a weed) but a beautiful flower. Green and creamy beige flowers with purple accenting the center of each flower, all on a single stem. It’s also known as spider or green milkweed. It feeds monarchs, soldiers (brightly colored, dark orange butterflies) and tropical queens (three sets of tentacles on the caterpillar and more solid color of butterfly), among many other butterflies and pollinators. This has been a hard summer. Be extra kind to our pollinators since nothing is blooming. Bees are attracted to blues and violets, hummingbirds prefer reds and pinks, Butterflies lean towards yellows and oranges, and nighttime pollinators are attracted to night bloomers.
October is Texas Archeology Month, a month-long celebration of Texas’ archeological heritage. In recognition of Texas Archeology Month, Brazoria County Historical Museum will kick-off its Archeological Lecture Series Thursday, October 12th at 6 pm with a presentation by Eleanor Stoddart, Cultural Resources Coordinator for Texas State Parks, who will look at some of the archeology projects currently happening in our local area and give an overview of some of the exciting events planned to celebrate 100 years of Texas State Parks.
Mattel has a new Stevie Nicks Barbie – great voice, sense of style, band member and solo artist, plus first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame TWICE. The doll was designed in honor of Nicks’ 75th birthday, her outfit inspired by the cover of the 1977 album Rumours. $55 unless you buy on resale markets. ☹ Tina Turner, Gloria Estefan, David Bowie, and Elvis Presley are also coming.
A friend was in town and spending the night, so I had made her an evening cocktail using Betty Buzz mixer which I had found at Central Market and Spec’s. I decided to do some research on the brand and found out that actress Blake Lively launched this company – her own sparkling non-alcoholic drink mixers, because she hates the taste of alcohol. The name Betty comes from her grandmother, aunt, and daughter – all named Betty. You will have to ask her where the name Buzz came from. They use glass bottles – not plastic, no artificial sweeteners, only juice, agave syrup and cane sugar. The five flavors are Meyer Lemon Club Soda, Sparkling Grapefruit, Sparkling Lemon-Lime, Ginger Beer, & Tonic. Blake’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, is also an entrepreneur with several investments in small businesses including Aviation Gin. What a good match. He also has a streaming channel called Maximum Effort and since he has an “irrational love” for the alien-life-form ALF from 80’s TV, he is returning him in reruns and in new advertiser-sponsored shorts. (That has nothing to do with G&T, but I thought I would throw it in for those with their own irrational love for ALF.)
Happy 5th anniversary to downtown neighbor, Wine Revue. If you haven’t stopped for a glass of wine or beer, then you should. Autumn also has private parties, great happy hour specials, and can cater for meetings and training sessions, or holiday parties. 219 Parking Way Downtown LJ. 979-248-0803.
RECENT BIRTHDAYS: Actor Anson Williams of Happy Days is 74. Actor Mark Hamill is 72. Star Wars. Actor Heather Locklear is 62. Actor Catherine Zeta-Jones is 54. Actor Linda Hamilton is 67. Actor Melissa Sue Anderson of Little House on the Prairie is 61. Singer-guitarist Randy Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive is 80. Singer-actor-director Shaun Cassidy is 65. Guitarist Mike Pinera of Iron Butterfly is 75. Singer-guitarist Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad is 75. TV personality Bryant Gumbel is 75. Actor Angie Dickinson is 92. Singer Cissy Houston is 90. Singer Johnny Mathis is 88. Singer Marilyn McCoo is 80. Actor Barry Williams of The Brady Bunch is 69. Actor Fran Drescher is 66. Country singer Marty Stuart is 65.
Dr. Richard Moriarty, retired pediatrician who helped create the bright green Mr. Yuk symbol that warns kids to stay away from poisonous substances, died at 83. He also helped establish and develop the Pittsburgh Poison Center where he served as director. He said the Mr. Yuk symbol was designed by kids for kids, for a poison awareness campaign that began in 1971.
John Warnock, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and computer scientist who helped invent the PDF (Portable Document Format) and co-founded Adobe Systems, died at 82. The PDF transformed the way documents are exchanged, replacing many paper copies in legal, business, and personal communication. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop followed before he stepped down as CEO in 2000. After he retired, he devoted his time to collecting rare books which he scanned and put online at rarebookroom.org.
Sir Michael Gambon, best known for his portrayal of Hogwarts much-loved headmaster Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter, died at 82. He had the greatest voice.
A judge has ruled that Lady Gaga will not have to pay Jennifer McBride the $500,000 reward that was promised for finding her two dogs, after discovering the woman was actually involved in the dognapping. Kroger is testing shopping carts with built-in scales and cameras so you can scan and bag each item as you shop. Some stores are testing check-out without scanning, you just dump your purchases into a bin where sensors add up the tab and tell you what you owe. We are lazy human beings. Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar was carjacked at gunpoint in D.C. about a mile from the Capitol. “You got to keep calm under those situations, and analyze the situation quickly and look around, one gun, a second gun, maybe a third one behind me. You got to stay calm. They wanted the car, sure. They recovered everything,” said Congressman Henry Cuellar. “What really got me, though, was they took my sushi, but anyway, that’s something else. And they did recover the sushi after all.” Ronnie Milsap will play his final Nashville concert this week at age 80. The legendary blind pianist will be joined by Kelly Clarkson, Little Big Town, Parker McCollum, Justin Moore, Scotty McCreery, Tracy Lawrence, Randy Houser, Sara Evans, Lorrie Morgan, Trace Adkins, Ricky Skaggs, Steven Curtis Chapman and more.
The Velasco Masonic Lodge Fellowship Hall is now available to reserve for parties, family reunions, baby showers or wedding receptions. $300 for 50 guests, a kitchen and large room. 979-233-7643
If you are hanging a picture on a wall, instead of holding the nail (you know what I’m saying), just put a clothespin around the nail and hammer away without the fear of hitting your fingers. Love it. Coca-Cola has released a new flavor called Starlight and apparently it tastes like space. Who can argue with that? Another source says Coca-Cola has released a new limited-edition flavor called Coca-Cola Y3000, which was created with the help of artificial intelligence and is supposed to taste like the future. The Senate has unanimously passed a formal dress code requiring business attire on the chamber floor, including coat, tie, and slacks for men. YES! Let’s get back to looking respectful. Another Florida story: a woman has sued Disney after riding the Humunga Kowabunga water slide which caused “permanent bodily injury” (painful wedgie). Riders are told to cross their legs at the ankles when going down the slide.
Our months of summer heat have been miserable for everyone and everything, everywhere, especially trees. The Arbor Day Foundation says we need to start planting trees, all of us, everywhere, right now. Trees lower air temperatures, absorb carbon, and give off oxygen. It helps our wildlife. Animals have difficulty regulating their body temperatures, which leads to stress, dehydration, heatstroke, and death. What a great rain we are having right now. The trees are so happy. Have a great week.
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
