Cool stuff in Columbus, Ohio! One of the benefits of storage being so inexpensive. Note: You do not have to be affiliated with Ohio St. University to search, access, and access the content in Knowledge Bank. Simply head to the web site and begin browsing or searching. From the Article: The Knowledge Bank, a project of Ohio State’s libraries and the top technology office, gives OSU researchers an easy way to publish and preserve their work on the Web. But it’s not just a place for scholarly research. Video clips, full-length books and even FBI reports call this digital space home. The Knowledge Bank is an endeavor of OSU Libraries and the Office of the Chief Information Officer and has more than 42,000 materials on the site.

New Web Site Shows Amtrak Connections to National Park Sites (PDF; 28 KB)
Amtrak has introduced a new Web site designed to show travelers how convenient it is to travel by train to visit the country’s national parks. With the theme “Parks in Your Backyard,” Amtraktoparks.com allows users to see the nearest Amtrak route to featured national park sites, each of which can be reached using public transportation from an Amtrak station. Amtraktoparks.com offers a trip wizard which allows users to customize their search based on geographic location and personal interests—Monuments/Memorials, Revolutionary History or Water Activities to name a few. Information on accommodations such camping sites and hotels is also provided. Once the user selects a national park, information on the park as well as which Amtrak route provides service to that park is shown. The site provides a direct link to Amtrak.com, allowing users to book rail travel. Source: National Railroad Passenger Corporation

Three places we visited on a recent trip to Fort Wayne:
(1) Embassy Theatre at 125 West Jefferson Boulevard for a concert with Fort Wayne Philharmonic featuring singer Heather Headley.
On May 14, 1928, the doors of the magnificent Emboyd Theatre opened in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Built as a movie palace and vaudeville house, the Emboyd provided a majestic backdrop for the entertainment of the day, complete with a Page theatre pipe organ. The Emboyd came complete with the seven-story, 150-room Indiana Hotel wrapped around the north and west sides of the theatre. Vaudeville was at its height of popularity and the Emboyd featured acrobats, comedians, magicians and musicians. For nearly 25 years the biggest and brightest stars of stage and screen graced the Emboyd stage: Bob Hope’s first emcee job was at the Emboyd. In 1952, the Emboyd Theatre and Indiana Hotel were sold to the Alliance Amusement Corporation, along with the Indiana Hotel adjacent to the theatre. The name changed to the Embassy Theatre. After the sale, the Embassy continued to operate as a movie palace. Faced with the wrecking ball in 1972, a handful of community leaders and volunteers, led by Robert Goldstine, banded together to form the Embassy Theatre Foundation. Their goal was to protect the building for the good of the community and preserve the home of the Grande Page Pipe Organ. Through the efforts of these volunteers and the support of a caring community, the successful “Save the Embassy” campaign raised the $250,000 necessary to rescue the building from demolition with just two days to spare. In 1985, the Embassadors, the former name for Embassy volunteers, established the first Festival of Trees, which grew out of a recommendation from Barbara Wigham. The initial festival raised $46,000, which was used to restore and renovate the front lobby entrances. The tradition of the Embassy Festival of Trees continues to this day with nearly 15,000 attendees annually.
In 1995, a major renovation of the Embassy included expanding the stage to bring the theatre up to the modern standards required by large-scale touring companies. The theatre seats were upgraded, creating a seating capacity of 2,477. http://www.fwembassytheatre.org/aboutus.htm

(2) Club Soda in the old Indiana Textile Company building 235 East Superior
Variety of food, entertainment, spacious rooms with good views for events.
http://treasuresof.com/View.aspx?treasureId=10179
Notes: There are orher restaurants, including one in Toledo, called Club Soda.
Indiana Textile Corporation is now in Mishawaka, Indiana.

(3) Catablu Grille at 6370 West Jefferson Boulevard in Covington Plaza
The contemporary interior has wooden blinds on the windows and a wall of wine bottles that stretches nearly to the ceiling. A semicircular panel wraps around the top of the bar and is filled with movie quotes. Good food.
http://www.fortwayne.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/SE/20100119/LIVING/1190304 Every Wednesday, enjoy a 20 percent discount on bottles from the “wall of wine.”

Why do we say a pair of pants for a single item?
The original word for the garment covering the legs of men was pantaloon. The word pant was often used as a synonym for pantleg, that is, the covering of only one leg. In this case the complete garment would have two pants, or better, a pair. Pantaloon as a garment could be used in the singular, but most often the plural was preferred. But "pants" as we know them really got their start as a colloquialism in the U.S. in the 19th century. There is still a widespread feeling that "pants" are not quite as dignified as "trousers." The word pantaloon has an interesting history. It was orginally the name of a character in the Italian commedia dell'arte. He represented a Venetian type and spoke in Venetian dialect (as did the Zanni character), and wore close-fitting trousers down to the foot. (Most commedia characters were known not only by their name, their calling, their dialect, and their manner, but also by their costume.) The French picked up on the name Pantalon (their version of Pantaleone), and passed it to the English as Pantaloon, both of which were used both for pants and for the character. Pantaloon is an old fool, whether in Italian, French or English. This does not answer the question about using the plural for a singular garment. This is also the case with shorts (that is, short pants). After the term "pants" came to be accepted for female attire, we had also pantaloons and panties. In any case, it's a garment with holes for the legs. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070617093930AAv8Vyf

Quote Words are the small change of thought. Jules Renard, writer (1864-1910)