RenoVous

  You may have voted early already, or mailed in your ballot, but we almost always wait until Tuesday to vote in person with our precinct. Locally we're watching who wins for Reno mayor. Our long term House rep retired, so I'm hoping we can flip that long held Republican representation.  Teresa Benitez-Thompson is better for everyone than Dave Flippo.  He's not a Northern Nevada guy. For the whole state, we have to vote a second time to protect the right to an abortion.  In order to become part of our constitution, a measure has to pass twice. And hopefully we'll be voting in a new governor.   "Come on, man."  Don't hold me accountable!

  Naomi Watts Kim Kardashian Sarah Paulson Parker Posey McKenna Grace Tracee Ellis Ross Eiza Gonzalez Cynthia Erivo Louisa Jacobson Stephan James

  The world's largest known sponge has been found in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. It is more than a mile down, and is roughly the size of a minivan. Sponge are multicellular invertebrates, and this is a colony of them which has likely been growing for a long time. Scientists were able to examine microscopic skeletal structures, called spicules, to confirm it is a member of glass sponges called Rossellidae. They're called glass sponges because the skeleton is made of delicate silica. Sponges are filter feeders, which benefits the surrounding ecosystem.

  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.