Mrs. Skinnyonbenny and I went on an adventure Saturday. One of the things that we are trying to make a point to do is to explore some of the waterways in Louisiana. So, we went to Henderson to paddle in the swamp, to see what was out there.

Why don't any of the stores carry Ben and Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk Ice Cream? Most of the convenience stores, drug stores, and all of the grocery stores carry Ben and Jerry's flavors, but for some reason, they select and choose what flavors to carry.

I had a good time this weekend watching the Belmont Stakes. For the archivists reading this years in the future, 2004 was the year that the 35/1 long shot named Birdstone beat the favorite of both the bettors and the general public, Smarty Jones. Smarty Jones won the Kentucky Derby in the muck, then the Preakness by 11 1/2 lengths, so it was hard to imagine him getting beat. He went off at about 1/5. A truer sure thing I can't remember, but alas, it didn't work out that way.

When I was just a youngster, I took pride in being able to name the stadiums and ballparks of all of the NFL, NBA, and major league baseball teams. Now, I wouldn't place money that I could name any of them. It's not the corporate naming or all of the new stadium building that threw me. I kept up with the first round of all of that without any trouble. The problem is when corporations change names, fail, or just opt out of their naming right.

The ideal hurricane is just strong enough to provide some impressive weather, shut off the power for the day, pull down some limbs, and keep you home from work. It can't do any real, serious damage, but it still has to get the office to close down, just in case. It's a tall order for any weather phenomena, and my hat is off to God when he pulls off the ideal hurricane.

I know a lot of people hate "lists," but don't count me among them. A couple of weeks ago, I started making a list of the 10 worst smelling spots in Baton Rouge. Every time I try to write down the list, I come up with two really legitimate entries, and some random lame filler entries.

If you were an LSU student, then you've eaten at Louie's. It was the place to go after all the bars had closed but you didn't want to go home yet. Come to think of it, there was one knucklehead in the fraternity house that wanted to fire the cook and have the meals catered by Louie's. I'm sure it's still booming at 2:00 am, but at my age, we go there for breakfast.

More mail from friends.

Work conversation this morning included an allusion to Long Duck Dong before 9:00 am. That's bodes well for your day. I'm inspired to share some pop culture observations. I suppose I should start with American Idol.

I moved to Baton Rouge in the fall of 1989 to start school at LSU. Ever since then, I've never been more than a few minutes from the lakes that frame the campus. I've walked, driven, and cycled around the lakes countless times. I've seen them smooth as glass and frothy with whitecaps, teeming with wildlife, and covered with rotting dead fish. These little lakes can give you anything.

Today is that most contrived of American holidays, Cinco de Mayo. At least in the U.S., this seems only to be a celebration of Mexican restaurants. I'm not sure about other parts of the country, but at least in my town, Cinco de Mayo celebrations were started by Corona advertising, and local Mexican restaurants jumping on the bandwagon with specials.

Last week, I had the chance to attend a very unusual double header. It started with game 4 of the Hornets-Heat playoff series. Tip off at 7:00 in New Orleans arena, followed by the LSU-Tulane baseball game next door in the Superdome. he basketball game was great. We had seats on the 10th row in the corner.