War, Huunhh!

What is it good for? Absolutely nuthin', unless you're Ken Burns, who made a 14-hour documentary out of World War II, now being shown on PBS. The series covers the U.S. experience during the war by focusing on four towns in different regions of the country, with the Midwest represented by Luverne, Minn.

Luverne's local newspaper editor and publisher, North Dakota native Al McIntosh, is featured prominently as a chronicler of life on the home front, and his near-forgotten writing is experiencing a second life.

Loonie

Canadians run amok at Cavalier crafts show. "We've never really had that before," said a terrified witness.

Currency Parity Brings Canadian Shoppers South

"What the Hell Happened Here?"

The Washington Post tries to piece together how exactly a B-52 bomber flew from Minot to Louisiana carrying the equivalent of "60 Hiroshimas." More details make it scarier.

Missteps in the Bunker

Obligatory description of North Dakota as a barren wasteland:

"Veterans of Minot typically describe their assignments by counting the winters passed in the flat, treeless region where January temperatures sometimes reach 30 below zero."

(Emphasis added)

Little Rock, Grand Forks, Satchmo

I'm big fan of Louis Armstrong (who's on my short list for Greatest American Ever), so I was aware of his famous interview in the midst of the Little Rock integration fight in 1957, when he briefly abandoned his jolly entertainer persona to call Eisenhower "gutless" and declare, "The way they are treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell." What I didn't know until today was that he said this in an interview with the Grand Forks Herald.

Who knew? NY Times: The Day Louis Armstrong Made Noise

Bonus North Dakota connection: Ronald Davies, the federal judge who ordered the integration was also from Grand Forks, by way of Crookston.

Reservation Games

Some Indian tribes are exerting a stronger influence in the casino industry, according to the New York Times, expanding off their reservations and buying up other parts of the entertainment world. No North Dakota tribes are mentioned but a UND professor, Steven Andrew Light, gets quoted.

Slow News Day in Guam

Guam woman wins Spam recipe contest in Minot. Her secret? Spam sushi.

Article from the Pacific Daily News

Guam and Hawaii eat more Spam than anyone else, at least according to Wikipedia.

Alf, Again

North Decoder sent this link, another article about Simpsons composer Alf Clausen. Includes a couple mentions of his N.D. background.

Sitting Bull

He's more famous than Phil Jackson, though it's hard to say whether he qualifies as a North Dakotan -- Lakota, yes, but maybe not North Dakota. But the Smithsonian Museum is returning to his ancestors some items related to Sitting Bull.

New York Times arts briefs, third item, about halfway down.

Phil Jackson

His parents took an oath of poverty. He grew up in Williston. He coached Michael Jordan. Monday is Phil Jackson's birthday.

To the average person outside of North Dakota, he may be the most famous North Dakota right now.

Jackson bio at NBA.com

The Sound of Springfield

The Simpsons composer and former North Dakotan Alf Clausen is featured on a new collection of music from the show.

NPR: The Maestro of 'D'oh!' Makes a New Soundtrack

61*

Fargo's Roger Maris was born 73 years ago on Sept. 10, 1934.

OK, he was born in Hibbing, Minn., but North Dakota can still claim him.

More Bomb

The Washington Post follows up the misplaced nukes and their trip to Louisiana, with links.

Um, uh, uhh ... oops?

Aw, jeez.

BBC: U.S. B-52 in Nuclear Cargo Blunder

Credit goes to Johnathan at j5mc for finding this one.

Washington Cover-Up

Byron Dorgan's prodigious comb-over gets mocked on the Tonight Show. Watch the video on YouTube, or better yet, explain to me how to embed video on this Micky Mouse blogger program.

(Credit to Rob at the Say Anything blog, who posted the clip first, after some other blogger mailed it to him. So it goes in the blogosphere.)