I'm starting this entry the night before...

because I'm tired, bored and not yet ready for bed.

I was sitting here reading some of the bios of the members of the PBA Bowling Hall of Fame.  I never realized just how many of these guys I'd met when I was still involved with bowling and when I saw the bio of Don McCune, it took me back almost 40 years in time.

The year was 1973 and Don McCune had a brilliant idea.  Bowling balls were now made of both rubber and plastic, and because of the physical properties of plastic, it's hardness could be altered.  McCune figured out how to "soak" a bowling ball in a solvent (Methyl Ethyl Ketone, known as MEK was the preferred solvent) for 30 minutes to an hour, let the ball dry out for 24 to 36 hours and even on the oiliest of lane conditions, that ball would now grab and hook much more than any non-soaked bowling ball.  There was no rule against soaking and McCune went on to win six PBA tournaments that year, more than any other.  In 1973, I was a young junior bowler who had a plastic ball, money to buy a can of MEK and a barrel to soak it in.  My only problem was it took me weeks to learn how to control a ball that suddenly hooked much more than I wanted it to.  Eventually I gave up on the "soaked" ball before the rule changes that made soaking a thing of the past.

Today bowling has high-tech materials that the balls are made from that eliminates the need for soaking or other alterations.  You want a ball that hooks, you buy a ball that will hook and oh boy, hook it will.

The "Bourne" trilogy" is on in the background.  Julia Stiles is smart and attractive.  Shame she hasn't seemed to be working a lot of late.  What's up with that?  Oh, I checked and she's been doing some TV stuff, but has movies coming out in the next year or two.   Alrighty then.

The doc at the ER said to eat more fruits and vegetables, so I bought tomatoes at the store and I've been snacking on them.  Love the taste.  But I miss drinking V-8 juice.  The low sodium version is low-sodium and lower on taste.

So no walk this morning.  I did not sleep well and I woke up feeling exhausted.  Maybe tonight if I feel better after it has cooled down.  It will depend on whether or not there is a trivia game tonight at 6 in Long Beach.  The bar where it had been being held is in flux with its schedule of this game, because they are now getting crowds for Sunday night football and therefore don't feel the need to have trivia to bring in patrons.  They may move the game to Thursdays, cancel it until after football or whatever.  I just wish they'd make a decision and let us know.  I don't want to make that trek again this week after going down there last week for no good reason. 

Why I slept badly turns out to be a function of bad linens.  The fitted sheet they've put on my bed is too small.  So it slips off one or more corners when I get into bed and I end up sleeping against the plastic matress cover, which is hot, produces sweat and is generally less than comfortable.  I will be asking for a fresh fitted sheet today.

We have an official list, here in the U.S., of our major, non-NATO allies.  There are 15 nations on that list.  Egypt is one of those 15.  So when President Obama says "I don't think we would consider Egypt an ally", he's ignoring standing U.S. foreign policy.  Being on that list gives Egypt a favored status among foreign nations in terms of financial and military considerations.  Obama didn't revoke that status and when the State Department immediately corrected him, it was clear he'd made an error in saying what he did.  So why is it that his errors don't garner the attention that the errors of Mitt Romney garner?

The new film from Paul Thomas Anderson "Master" is out, and while it's only on five screens at the moment, it pulled in nearly $50,000 per screen on Friday, it's first day in release.  That's most impressive.  Already there is Oscar buzz about this film.