Monday, August 20, 2007

TFATD 29: Hurricanes, Preschools, and Lemonade

Episode 29 of The Falcon and the Dove: Hurricanes, Preschools, and Lemonade! It's finally here! This week, we explain the delays and promptly catch up on the many stories of the past few weeks! We discuss, Hurricane Dean, Michael Vick's plea, miracle and inspirational stories, keeping your pets cool during travel, bad drivers and much more! Enjoy!

- Overview
- The federal government cut the prime rate last Friday...just what Jim Cramer asked Ben Bernanke to do!
- Hurricane Dean hits the southern islands, killing at least 9. What to do if you're in the path of a hurricane.
- Rumor: J.K. Rowling may be writing a Scottish crime novel. UPDATE: This ended up being a joke made by the author's neighbor that got out of hand. The rumor appears to be false, although Rowling has stated that she intends to continue writing novels.
- Football player Michael Vick pleads guilty to dog-fighting. A dog chew toy has been made in his...uh, honor.
- The Nine Traffic Circles of Hell. One reporter's take on bad drivers.
- Teen survives a 6-story fall with only scrapes. We discuss window saftely measures.
- How to travel the RIGHT way with your pet!
- Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, an organization established by a young girl with rare children's cancer, has raised over $12 million for cancer research! You too can hold your own lemonade stand to raise money for this charity! (Note: the web address we give in the show is incorrect. This is the correct URL: www.alexslemonade.org)
- Preschool has become very expensive, to over $10,000 a year! We discuss alternatives like free Parent Co-ops, nannies, homeschooling, and more, including reading aloud to your child. The best preschool is great parenting.
- The Quote of the Week. From Jim Cramer's Rant.
- And more!

*We also attended a special concert this past weekend featuring Harry Potter 'Wizard Rock' bands, Harry and the Potters, and Draco and the Malfoys. These two groups are probably the most popular of over 100 Wizard Rock bands out there, spanning genres and stories other than Harry Potter as well.

This concert was held at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland, and was attended by over 400 people. What is so awesome about Wizard Rock is not just vast and diverse community it attracts and the books that it's based on, but the fact that it gets so many people, including kids and teens, into reading. Carnegie Library's summer reading program attracted hundreds, and over 6,000 books were checked out by them!!! Great job everyone! Prizes were also given out at this special event. The Falcon and the Dove was there, and we recorded most of the concert. We'll post some sound clips from that concert soon! Congrats to Harry and the Potters, Draco and the Malfoys, and the hundreds of people who read this summer and made this event so special. It is people like you who make the world rock!!!*

Download Episode 29 Here! (Length: 1 hour; Size: 55.6 MB)