The World's Most Valuable Car, the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, on Display Again at The Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard

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The world's most valuable car, the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, is on display again at The Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard. The 57SC Atlantic is on loan to the museum from its unnamed owner, who purchased the car for somewhere in the range of $30 to $40 million in 2010. There is some interesting information about the 57SC Atlantic at www.supercars.net/cars/2705.html. The Mullin Automotive Museum is a "must see" activity for anyone in the area. The cars in the museum are historic works of art and you can see them in person right here in Ventura County. Trust me, you won't regret it.

 

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Simi Valley Residents Featured in 25th Anniversary Shark Week "Sharkzilla" Episode

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The last few years I've had several home remodeling projects managed by Sean Tohill of All Trades Ready Construction. Sean's a really nice guy and he and his team did some great work at my house.

Sean frequently mentioned his wife, Lisa, had a passion for unearthing fossils out in Bakersfield and that they spent many a weekend up there. But we never talked about it in detail as cabinetry, mirrors, tiles and bath fixtures represented the main topic at hand.

Two weeks ago he told me, "Make sure to watch 'Sharkzilla' on the Discovery Channel's 25th Anniversary Shark Week! You and the kids will get a kick out of it!" The Sharkzilla episode first aired this past Monday night. I recorded it and watched it the next day. HOLY MEGALADON! He didn't tell me that he and Lisa would be PROMINENTLY FEATURED in the show! They were great!

Shark Week 25th Anniversary sign and massive 6 foot tall megaladon fin temporarily on display at the Tohill residence in Wood Ranch!

Sharkzilla features the cast of Mythbusters and a team that constructed a MASSIVE 52 foot long megaladon shark that lived 15 million years ago. This gigantic creature wiith 8 foot wide mechanical jaws was brought to the sand next to the Ventura Pier to a cheering crowd.

So, where did Sean and Lisa Tohill come in? The Mythbusters team learned that the Tohills own an 85 acre White Whale Quarry in Bakersfield. Yes, 12 to 15 million years

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World Toilet Day is November 19th!

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The World Toilet Organization was founded in 2001 as a global non-profit organization committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide.  The WTO's founding day of November 19th is celebrated each year as "World Toilet Day" to increase awareness of global sanitation issues.  WTO has over 150 member organizations around the world.

WTO founder Jack Sim was named a "Hero of the Environment" by Time Magazine in 2008.  He seeks to destigmatize the toilet and make it a status symbol for the poor.  "I want people to aspire to owning a toilet, just like others aspire to own a Louis Vuitton bag," he told Time.  Heck, I'm already there.

From the "Putting Things Into Perspective" department:  Over 2.6 BILLION people around the world do not have access to basic sanitation.  In other words, over 8 times the entire U.S. population around the world don't even have access to a toilet!

The WTO describes its logo on its website.  The logo's message is "Love our Toilet." "The logo of the WTO is the image of a toilet seat-cover viewed from an angle as how most people would see it. The ring in the middle of the toilet seat-cover signifies a connected circle of members. Blue was chosen as the color of the toilet seat-cover as a symbolization of water and how WTO is also closely-related to water issues."

Visit www.worldtoilet.org for more information.

Views of the Conejo Valley on a Warm, Cloudy August Saturday Night

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The heatwave continued today throughout the Southland today, with temperatures topping off around 95 degrees in Thousand Oaks with humidity in the 60-70% range. So it was a bit sticky out there. But the good news is that these weather conditions make for great scenes of the Conejo Valley!

What's Not to Love About the Ventura County Fair!? 137th Edition Now in Session!

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The 137th Ventura County Fair is off and running! This year's theme is "Rides, Ribbons and Rodeos" and visitors will certainly find plenty of that...and much more!  Some of the things you'll find here...games, rides, contests, music, rodeo, motor sports, mariachi, pony rides, goats, bunnies, chickens, vendors, kids' crafts, gems and minerals, agricultural exhibits, educational exhibits, every type of fair food you could imagine, photo opps and everything in between! Visit www.venturacountyfair.org for a complete event lineup!

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London 2012 Summer Olympic Games Schedule, Information and Other Tidbits

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Believe it or not, the 2012 Olympic Games started TODAY, two days in advance of the opening ceremony on Friday, July 27th!

The first competition of the 2012 Olympic Games was a women's soccer match between Great Britain and New Zealand at 8 a.m. PST., followed by top-seeded USA vs France at 9 a.m., and other women's soccer matches. Tomorrow, men's soccer starts with Honduras vs Morocco at 4 a.m. PST. NBC's complete Olympics viewing schedule can be viewed at www.nbcolympics.com/tv-listings/index.html. There's a nice summary-level schedule available at www.nbcolympics.com/results-schedules/index.html.

The theme of the 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony is "Isles of Wonder" and NBC will begin 4 1/2 hours of coverage at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. The show will feature over 10,000 performers, including British duo Underworld and an appearance by Paul McCartney.

Keep in mind that London is 8 hours ahead of us here in California, so many events will be shown tape delayed.  The NBC Olympics website, however, will be streaming LIVE coverage of all events! But you must register your TV service (e.g. Time Warner, Verizon, Direct TV, etc.) to gain access to the streaming content. I've tried it already and it works great!

The 2012 Summer Olympics will have 19 competition days, from today, July 25th to Sunday, August 12th. The closing ceremony on the 12th titled "A Symphony of British Music" will start at 9 p.m. local (London) time. According to Rolling Stone, the lineup at the closing ceremony will include The Who, a Spice Girls reunion, George Michael and Jessie J among others.

Olympics Facts, Statistics and Tidbits

Some 10,490 athletes from 204 nations will be represented at the 2012 Summer Olympics, playing 26 sports in 39 disciplines at 34 venues. Talk about a logistical challenge! There will be 302 medal events, which translates into a total of 906 gold, silver and bronze medals (though of course many more medals will be distributed for events involving more than one player on a team).

Ten sports account for fully 74% of the 302 events. The top 10, including medal count, includes: Athletics (Track & Field) 47 medals, Aquatics (46), Wrestling (20), Cycling (18), Gymnastics (18), Canoeing (16), Shooting (15), Weightlifting (15), Judo (14) and Rowing (14).

If you include the n

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Former NBA Greats Pippen, Rodman, Grant and Others Played in Taiwan on Sunday

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A buddy of mine surprised me with these great photos from an exhibition game played in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. NBA legends Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, along with other popular retirees including Horace Grant, Jason Williams, Mitch Richmond and others, put on a show against the Taiwanese All-Star team this past Sunday, July 21st.

This team of old-timers looked great! The NBA Alumni team beat the locals by a score of 104 to 89 and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the show! Rodman, who is now 51, played with gusto, according to my friend. In fact, he dove for a loose ball and ended up in some courtside seats. His effort was impressive. And of course, as you'll see below, he was as photogenic as ever.