Desert Messenger

P��� 22 Strange but True By Samantha Weaver It was British Prime Minister Benja- min Disraeli who made the following observation: “My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me.” Hunters, take note: The largest deer that ever lived was the Irish elk, which became extinct more than 7,000 years ago. Though it stood a remarkable 7 feet tall at the shoulders, the creature’s most amazing characteristic was its antlers, which could stretch 12 feet from tip to tip and weigh up to 90 pounds. Imagine that rack hanging on your living-room wall! If you are a parent, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that among the under-18 crowd, strawberries are the favorite fruit, followed closely by grapes and bananas. Google Earth, the virtual geographic information program, isn’t just a fun thing to fiddle with on your computer; it can be a law-enforcement tool, too. D����� M�������� Just last year, police in Switzerland noticed a cornfield that looked a bit odd; it turns out that the farmer was raising marijuana and had hidden the two-acre plot within his corn fields. The koala bear, that cute and cuddly icon of Down Under, never drinks wa- ter. The critters get all the water they need from the food they eat. Medical experts say that coconut wa- ter has the same pH and electrolyte balance as human blood. In fact, dur- ing World War II, doctors who were running low on supplies used coconut water in plasma transfusions. In 2002, in an effort to be more envi- ronmentally friendly, Ireland decided to try to reduce the use of plastic gro- cery bags by levying a 15-cent tax on each one. It worked, too -- use of the bags dropped by 95 percent. Thought for the Day: “Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” - Roger Miller (c) 2010 King Features Synd., Inc. NASCAR this week Bowyer Is Long Overdue By Monte Dutton RICHMOND, Va. -- The prevailing view is that the Aaron’s 499, run at Talladega Superspeedway and won by Kevin Harvick, was a NASCAR classic. It all depends on the perspective, or so said Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer, who finished seventh in that race. “It was boring as far as my situation went,” said Bowyer. “I rode around in the back and snuck in and got a decent finish out of it. That’s the only way I can get a good finish there. “I hate doing it. It’s boring and no good for your sponsor and everything else. But ... I needed to get a good finish.” Now, one week later, Harvick is the Sprint Cup point leader, Jeff Burton is ninth and Bowyer 12th, meaning that all three are in position to make the Chase. That, of course, is still 16 races away. Only a Cup regular since 2006, Bow- yer has already made the Chase twice, finishing third in 2007 and fifth in 2008. All three RCR drivers made the M�� 19, 2010 Chase in 2008. None did so in 2009. Bowyer, who will turn 31 this month, has collected three top-10 finishes in the past five races, finishing 12th in the most recent at Richmond International Raceway. He drives the No. 33 Cheeri- os/Hamburger Helper Chevrolet. Twice a Sprint Cup winner, Bowyer has gone 72 races -- exactly two sea- sons -- since his Richmond victory on May 3, 2008. “Not winning ... you never get over it,” he said. “We are racers and grew up racing and winning races. I hate losing. It has been a long time since we won a Cup race, and we’re long over- due. I feel like it’s our turn, and we need to get it done.” Bowyer’s two victories occurred at Richmond and New Hampshire. “I think the RCR short-track program has always been good,” he said. “This track (Richmond), I don’t know why, it just kind of fell into my driving style. I love this place. You have got to get up on the wheel and make it happen at a track like this. “I think this is a perfect size race track. It’s just fast enough that you get that sensation of speed that we all like, and it’s just short enough that we can beat and bang on each other, and root and gouge for a win. That’s what puts on a good show at tracks like Richmond.” Monte Dutton has covered motors- ports for The Gaston (N.C.) Gazette since 1993. He was named writer of the year by the National Motorsports Press Association in 2008. His blog NASCAR This Week (http://nascar. rbma.com) features all of his report- ing on racing, roots music and life on the road. E-mail Monte at nascar_ thisweek@yahoo.com. (c) 2010 King Features Synd., Inc. PUZZLE PAGE (page 20) ANSWERS

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