DAILY DIRT: In Iowa, humans are at a decided disadvantage

For the first 70 1/2 years of my life, I had thought the fortune cookie originated in China … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,018 of The Daily Dirt.

1. We all know some basic facts about most of the states in this great country.

Some of the more obvious include Arizona being home to the Grand Canyon, Nevada (in particular, Las Vegas) being the gaming capital of the world, the best peaches are grown in Georgia, the best potatoes in Idaho, Indiana is home to the globe’s most famous race — the Indianapolis 500 and we couldn’t have the “Wizard of Oz” without Kansas.

You might also want to consider the following when planning the next family vacation:

• In Iowa, the pigs outnumber the human population 7 to 1.
• Kentucky has more barrels of bourbon than people.
• Nevada has more hotel rooms than any place on Earth.
• Louisiana is home to 98 percent of the world’s crayfish.
• Hawaii has the highest life expectancy of any state at 81.
• California is where the fortune cookie was actually invented, not China.
• Alaska has the highest percentage of people who walk to work.
• Delaware is the only state without any national parks.
• Alabama was where the first 911 call was made.
• Ohio has the only state flag that is not rectangular.
• Oklahoma is where the parking meter was invented.
• New Jersey has more diners than any another state.
• The town of Rugby, N.D., is where the geographical center of North America is.
• Oregon is home to the world’s smallest park, totaling 452 inches in Portland. It’s for leprechauns and snail races.
• Rhode Island has the nation’s oldest operation tavern, opened in 1673.
• Tennessee was the birthplace of Mountain Dew.

2. Did you know (Part 78)

• That Chuck Norris narrates Morgan Freeman’s life.
• That Chuck Norris can find a needle in a haystack — at night.
• That Chuck Norris learned to read from a book he wrote.
• That Chuck Norris does not breathe, he holds air hostage.
• That Chuck Norris once laughed lightly. Now it’s called chuck-ling.
• That Chuck Norris doesn’t watch the news. He decides what happens next.
• That when Chuck Norris was born, he drove his parents home from the hospital.
• That Chuck Norris once broke a mirror and got seven years of good luck.
• That Chuck Norris can catch a cold, just to show it who’s boss.

3. “Groundhog Day” is considered one of actor Bill Murray’s finest films. Here are some interesting tidbits about the 1993 movie you have not have realized:

• Murray was bitten twice by the groundhog during filming. He had to have anti-rabies injections because the bites were so severe.
• Director Harold Ramis originally wanted Tom Hanks for the lead role, but decided against it because he felt Hanks “was too nice”.
• The movie was not filmed in Punxsutawney, Pa., but in Woodstock, Ill. There is one scene in the movie where the sign “Woodstock Jewelers” can clearly be seen.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Bill Murray should have given Tom Hanks his role in “Caddyshack”. It only seems fair.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Daily Dirt management would like to wish a happy 21st birthday to a member of the MRN family, Scott Duffy Gough, youngest son of the company’s CEO and Publisher. Ironically, he just finished playing the son of a publishing magnate in the recent QCT production of “Newsies”.