Backcasts archive: Through Feb. 15, 2008
By Brett PaulyBlog calendar: Feb. 14 | Feb. 13 | Feb. 12 | Feb. 11
Stuck at the 11th hour for a Valentine's gift? Get her a pink Taser
It's the big day, fellas, and we trust you've found that perfect something special for your best gal.
What?
No!
Not yet!
Well, it's definitely crunch time, friends, and we're here to help.
With its renewed push to sell weapons to families, Taser International might have a solution. How about getting the little lady a C2 "personal protector"?
Yep, we're talking Taser guns here, and from what we're read women line up to shoot them when given the opportunity.
In fact, one independent entrepreneur in Phoenix sells the weapons much the way her mother's generation sold plastic food-storage containers, at a Taser party, the Associated Press reports.
Women apparently whooped it up as they took turns blasting at a metallic target during such a soiree hosted by Dana Shafman, 34. We doubt Tupperware ever got that reaction.
Company officials think folks can learn from Shafman's marketing technique, said Steve Tuttle, spokesman for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Taser International, according to the AP. Shafman claims to have sold about 30 guns a month at $349.99 apiece since her first Taser party Oct. 15.
"When I talk about Taser, I come across as a salesman," Tuttle said. "When you see her, it comes across as very real."
And, guys, you'll be happy to learn the compact C2 fits in a purse and even comes in pink; that's going to win you big points, no doubt.
"It's a girl-power kind of thing," Shafman said.
See, we told you we're here to help.
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The jewelers of the nation are looking golden in the fish issue up North
Somehow we don't associate shiny necklaces with shimmering salmon, and, fortunately, it appears the nation's top jewelers want to keep it that way.
Sure, gold and sockeye are both gems.
But Tiffany and four other prominent jewelers vowed yesterday not to market gold that might eventually be extracted from the Pebble Mine, a monumental ore deposit in southwest Alaska not far from the world's most-productive wild sockeye stream, the Associated Press reports from Anchorage.
"We are committed to sourcing our gold and other materials in ways that ensure the protection of natural resources, such as the Bristol Bay watershed," states the pledge from Tiffany, Helzberg Diamonds, Ben Bridge Jeweler, Fortunoff and Leber Jewelers, which, according to the AP, together sold some $2.2 billion in jewelry in 2006.
That's a lot of bracelets, and more than a little leverage in the effort to protect salmon in the Bristol Bay watershed near where the vast mineral prospect is being developed.
Production could begin in 2015 at the Pebble Mine, which is thought to contain billions of pounds of copper and molybdenum and millions of ounces of gold, all worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
Of course, we're more than a little skeptical about the timing of the jewelers' announcement, coming just two days before Valentine's.
But it does give us pause to ask: If you're not just exactly sure what jewelry to buy your wife, is it better to get her a gift certificate or pick something out and, ultimately, let her exchange it? The smart money is on the loving gesture of actually having the earrings in hand on the big day (but, of course, we'll probably screw that up somehow).
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"Icebox of the Nation" is official, again, at a record 40 below zero
It certainly didn't take long for International Falls to prove federal trademark officials made the best decision when they granted the northern Minnesota town the right to officially be called the "Icebox of the Nation."
Yesterday the temperature in International Falls plunged to a record 40 below zero, prompting residents to use electric engine block heaters to keep their cars from freezing, the Associated Press reports. The previous standard for a low temperature on Feb. 11 in International Falls was 37 below, set in 1967.
By late morning, the temperature had risen all the way to 18 – below zero.
"This is about as cold as it gets, this is bad. There's no wind – it's just cold," said Nick McDougall, 48, a worker at The Fisherman, a convenience store and gas station in town. "People just don't go out, unless you have to go to work."
In fact, it was so frigid in International Falls, McDougall couldn't get his car trunk to close after he got out his charger to kick-start his dead battery.
Just last week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office resolved the community's feud with the ski town of Fraser, Colo., for the legal right to the trademark "Icebox of the Nation" when it sided with the city on the Canadian border, according to the AP. The city attorney received a certificate granting International Falls Reg. No. 3,375,139.
"I ran over to the attorney's office and kissed the certificate," Mayor Shawn Mason said. "Fraser's actions had sent a chill down my spine."
You'll recall Backcasts had previously supported International Falls' claim to "The Icebox of the Nation."
Quite apart from the banter and bickering and any actual weather-related facts and figures, most important to us is that International Falls is thought to be inspiration for the fictional setting of Frostbite Falls from the old the animated series "Rocky and His Friends" and "The Bullwinkle Show." And as you all know well, Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose are two very cool dudes.
But back to the pressing matter of official titles and such. Mayor Mason said more was at stake than bragging rights, noting that International Falls has used the icebox title to market itself to industry as the nation's premier site for cold-weather testing.
"We're just thrilled the title has been confirmed," City Administrator Rod Otterness said, who expected to notify officials in Fraser of their copyright infringement this week. "If Fraser wants to call itself the 'Icebox of Colorado,' we have no problem."
International Falls, with a population of 6,500, and Fraser, whose folks number closer to 1,000, have fought over the title before.
City Attorney Joe Boyle said International Falls can prove it has used the moniker since 1948. And the city has photographic proof its 1955 Pee Wee hockey team traveled to Boston with jackets saying, "The Icebox of the Nation."
International Falls paid Fraser $2,000 in 1989 for dropping its claim to the title. But when the Minnesota community last year acknowledged it inadvertently had failed to renew its federal trademark back in 1996 (even while keeping a state trademark up to date), the Colorado town pounced, according to the AP.
"They let it lapse and we thought, heck, if they don't want it, we do," Fraser Mayor Fran Cook said. "This is the first I've heard of any resolution and I have to admit I'm surprised."
Cook said little will change even if Fraser's lawyers confirm defeat.
"It's something we've always gotten a kick out of and it will not disappear from the old-timers' lingo," she said.
Meanwhile, Monday also was very, very cold in Winter. The town in northwest Wisconsin chilled to a low of 25 below, the AP reports.
Goes to show even Winter's got nothing on Frostbite Falls.
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Like they say, all's fair in boars and wars
If there's a sound of squealing along Israel's boarder with Lebanon, don't be alarmed. It's just another wild boar receiving a shock from an electric fence.
The shock is harmless and is part of a solution to a common security problem here – the animals bump into the Israeli military's supersensitive electronic fence and set off alarms of a possible infiltration by Lebanese guerrillas, the Associated Press reports from Jerusalem.
Each false alarm caused by a boar results in the dispatching of soldiers to check for a breach, the soldiers' weekly Bamahaneh magazine reported in its current issue.
So common in northern Israel and southern Lebanon are the animals that soldiers have strung barbed wire hooked up to a power generator along the fence to deter the boars from tripping the security alarms. Animals touching the charged wire receive a small, electric shock that is safe but irritating, according to the AP.
"We believe that after wild boars, or any other animals running around here, get an electric shock once, they won't come back," Lt. Col. Ofer Azrad, an officer in the border area, told the magazine.
Most details about the border fence are kept secret.
No need for all the clandestine measures, we believe. As they say, all's fair in boars and wars.
About the author: Brett Pauly spent nearly six years editing and publishing ESPNOutdoors.com before moving on to produce the ESPN.com Sports Travel site. He is a national award-winning writer and editor with 14 years of experience in the newspaper trade, including stints at the Los Angeles Daily News and Seattle Times. The Evergreen State is where he now makes his home. Click here to email him.
