What On Earth?-Column #37, June 2005

Well, summer has arrived, my friends, and for many seniors in HS and college, so have graduations. And, that means, it's Vacation time! In addition, this is the month where we salute Father's Day. For some of us, our dads, just like our moms were last month, will be fighting in Iraq.

That's where I'd like to begin this column. The violence continues, but that hasn't slowed down the progress of the new government. And it was this month one year ago, that the Iraqi citizens decided on a new government, but it wouldn't be put into place until THIS YEAR. As planned, it's already in place, and Saddam will go on trial, but the violence is still the big headline in Iraq. And remember the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal? Well, a few of those soldiers have already been sentenced to jail. We condemn torture? You bet.

Next category, is Music. It was 3 years ago that Mexican-born singing sensation Paulina Rubio burst into the English-singing scene with her album "Border Girl," which included the lead track of "Don't Say Goodbye". Believe it or not, during the time she promoted the album, Don't Say Goodbye got plenty of airtime on America's radios. Also, 3 years ago, the A-Teens, following up on the success of their first 2 albums, The ABBA Generation and Teen Spirit, decided to promote their success even further with Pop 'Til You Drop, which included the funky Floorfiller, their rendition of Elvis' Can't Help Falling In Love With You, and School's Out, with the man who wrote and sang that song, the one and only Alice Cooper. Yes, the name sounds feminine, but the person who sang this song is a MALE.

Next category, is Television. If you kept up with Survivor: Palau, for the past 5 months, well, Tom Westman, a NY firefighter, is the latest Million Dollar winner! Congrats to him. And congrats to Kendra Todd on being the winner of the 3rd season of The Apprentice. And even MORE congrats to Carrie Underwood of Oklahoma on being the new American Idol, and Bo Bice is the runner-up. Now, one year ago, we watched on Survivor: All-Stars, as runner-up Rob Mariano proposed to winner Amber Brkich. Well, that wedding went as planned, and we wish them years of happiness.

Next category, Game Shows. Well, after 3 months, and watching nearly 150 of the greatest players go against each other again, the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament Of Champions is now in the books. And your winner is Brad Rutter, a quiz show host from Pennsylvania, adding another $2 million to his winnings. He's the same guy who won the Million Dollar Masters Tournament in 2002. The show's juggernaut, Ken Jennings, a Salt Lake City software engineer, came in 2nd, winning $500,000. Jerome Vered, one of the show's greats in the early 90's, came in 3rd, and won $250,000. And speaking of Jennings, it was one year ago, THIS MONTH, that he began to take the "Sky's The Limit" rule change to new heights, and he became a household name all around the country.

It's also been one year since mourned the passings of Ronald Reagan and Ray Charles. And coincidentally, at one of Reagan's bashes, Ray Charles belted out "America The Beautiful" as he played it on the piano.

And it's also been one year since my sister graduated from Stanford, with justice Sandra Day O'Connor (Stanford alum) giving the commencement address. What a moment it was for my sis! She wanted to go into medical stuff, she got her chance.

And to wrap up this column of so-called One-Year-Anniversary headlines, it was, you guessed it, ONE YEAR AGO, that Americans saw sky-rocketing gas prices, during the summer travel season, with some city prices as high as $2/gallon or more! When we were in San Francisco, the cheapest was $2.25, the most expensive was $2.50. However, in Fullerton, they were paying as much as $4/gal! And one station said on their sign, that it was costing "AN ARM AND A LEG." You bet! And here we are one year later, and it's still costing us an arm and a leg, or even more!

Well, I'm out! This wraps up yet another column, even though not much has been going on in the news. This is John Lee saying, "Go HOME!"