RenoVous

  Bob Ross was born on this day in 1942, and he gifted us the joy of watching him paint.  Sometimes you'd just be scrolling channels and there he was, so calming, so easy to watch as the happy trees filled in the mountain scene... The show premiered in 1983, as a follow up to the previous Magic of Oil Painting,  hosted by Ross' mentor, Bill Alexander.  He created the "wet on wet" method which Ross carried on. Both artists believed that anyone could learn to paint. "All you need is the desire to make beautiful things happen on canvas." -Ross I can't be sure of images on the internet, so we're going straight to the source. Ross had enlisted in the Air Force and mostly served on the Eielson AFB in Alaska, so it's no surprise that Denali was his first mountain. My sister got me a Bob Ross zen garden that has trees, a mountain, and a cabin. Something "dark and misty" for almost Halloween.  ^_^

  The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri was completed on this day, 1965. It is a 630 feet catenary curve of stainless steel, designed by Eero Saarinen.  It was erected to commemorate Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase and St. Louis' central role in the westward expansion that followed. The lift to the top deck is a custom-engineered tram that combines the principles of a traditional elevator and a Ferris wheel.  Capsule cars are linked by a chain which rotate individually to keep the passengers upright. I saw a documentary about a tornado that went through the city in 2025, with winds up to 150 mph.  The arch held, and though guests up top got some motion sickness, as it swayed up to 18 inches side to side, there were no injuries and no damage reported.

  In honor of the World Series, I thought we'd focus on American beer in Milwaukee. The first brewery there opened in 1840 by Welsh settlers, primarily Richard Owens.  It was simply called Milwaukee Brewery, and later renamed Lake Brewery. After them came German immigrants who opened the brewing empires we know today, such as Pabst (1844) and Miller (1855). By 1867, that included Jacob Leinenkugel.  They have an on-site brewery at the baseball stadium. In 1895, A. Gettelman Brewing released Milwaukee's Best Beer. The Milwaukee beer tradition is rooted in German heritage, defined by a crisp, clean, malt-forward lager that relied on the Milwaukee River and its ice.

  Raye Jenna Ortega Kristen Bell Naomi Watts Peyton Elizabeth Lee Kristen Chenoweth Gemma Chan Quinta Brunson Renate Reinsve Princess Catherine

  Peptides are short chains of amino acids that act as molecular messengers to direct cells, hormones, and bodily processes. Peptide engineering is the modification of these chains to improve their stability, binding strength, and use in medicine. Scientists developed a peptide called HAEE, which was designed to stop the clumps of amyloid-beta protein that build up between neurons in Alzheimer's.  Specifically, the peptide would block zinc ions that are thought to act as a kind of glue. When researchers then developed a method to measure HAEE in blood samples for clinical trials, they found that every one of the 150 volunteers already had the peptide. They then compared those samples with healthy controls, and found that those with Alzheimer's had around half the levels of HAEE, suggesting that HAEE deficiency plays a significant role in the disease.  It also means the molecule can be used as a biomarker for disease testing.

  It's the time of year for fall festivals - pumpkin patches and corn mazes at local farms. The above is from Fallon's Lattin Farms, but we generally go to Ferrari Farms. The first modern US corn maze was created in 1993 in Annville, Pennsylvania.  It was meant to be a fundraiser for local farmers affected by floods, and it set a Guinness World Record at the time. The current World Record holder is the Grand Labyrinthe Kamouraska in Quebec. That's 65.8 acres of maze, whereas our little local is just 5 acres. Nephew made sure we didn't get lost. Support local if you can!