Dad usually arrived home at the end of each work day completely covered with Blue Virtol or soaked to the skin with other noxious chemicals like DDT or Malathion. Once the potato plant has reached a state of maturity, around 60 days after planting and depending on other factors like warmth of the season, rainfall, etc, tiny clusters of blue and purple flowers appear. This flowering generally indicates that the plant is growing tiny new potatoes on its roots. Once the potatoes have been in the ground for a certain period of time, usually around two and a half months or about the middle of September in northern Maine, again depending on the weather, the long, green tops of the potato plant are sprayed with a weed killer. Once the tops have died and dried up, it is easier to harvest the mature potatoes.

Brian Roberts could put Cubs over the top

One of them is one of the all-time great liars.

Baseball spring training camps open this month and some big-name free agents are jobless and might have to swallow some pride to prolong their careers and sign for much less than they're accustomed to. They include Barry Bonds, Armando Benitez, Mike Piazza, Kenny Lofton, Shannon Stewart, Livan Hernandez, Sammy Sosa, Bartolo Colon, Shawn Green, Corey Patterson and Tony Clark.

If they can't find jobs, Bonds, Sosa, perhaps Clemens and Piazza all would be on the 2013 Hall of Fame ballot. It would be a very impressive group if they all were "clean."

But Piazza is the only one who hasn't been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Billionaire Rochester sportsman Tom Golisano over the weekend reiterated that he's prepared to do what he can to keep the Buffalo Bills in western New York.

MacBook Air: delivery, unboxing photos [u]

I played with one today and I just am not impressed. Hmmm, let me say I am very impressed by how thin it its....wow!!! BUT...I had hoped for a real replacement for my 12" powerbook. While this thing is thin, it is too wide and too "sharp" on the edges. Nice computer, but I had hoped for an intel 12" (or smaller) system or tablet system. I have fallen in love with the tiny 10" systems I was exposed to in Japan...some with 8 - 12 hours of light usage, or 6+ with heavy usage. No reason to replace the 12" powerbook yet. Maybe next time Apple. posted by lamewing

Attenborough takes on reptiles in Life in Cold Blood

He can lie down and talk in every habitat known to nature. In addition, he is a continuity girl’s favourite performer. Not only does he wear the same short-sleeved blue shirt and pale chinos in every shot, he has worn them in every shot of every programme for 50 years. There are tortoises with bigger wardrobes.

Now, the first thing everyone on television tells you about snakes is that they’re not slimy and cold. In fact, they’re silky and soft and cuddly and shyly flirtatious, have a dry wit and are good with children and old people. Oddly, if you ever visit a country where large poisonous snakes visit the natives, you’ll notice the indigenous humans are invariably terrified into screaming abdabs by the mere mention of them, and simply can’t kill them fast enough.

NHL pioneer O'Ree works for diversity

It's interesting that the NHL All-Star Game happened to be in Atlanta this year, 50 years after Willie O'Ree broke the color barrier in the NHL.

McCain and Rove form a tentative alliance

We never had any ill will after the initial South Carolina thing. After we had the meeting with President Bush we moved on. I've seen Karl Rove many times when I've been over at the White House. We've always had pleasant conversations."

MCCAIN: Oh I, listen, he ah. Nobody denies he's one of the smartest political minds in America. I'd be glad to get his advice.