Flowers we like to grow should have names that please us and its a joy to find them honoring men and women who've excelled in the world of gardens. Weeds, on the other hand, should have names we loathe, so we can go about their destruction with more zest and vim. The process of weeding is more sanative if you name the pests after your own special enemies and pet abominations. Don't bother to learn whether your new intruder is pigweed or horse nettle. Just christen it in honor of some neighbor who you find difficult to 'love as thyself' and, while abolishing it, you also may vent your spleen." -- Julian Meade, Bouquets and Bitters, 1940.***** ***** *****Here's one of those lesser gardening moments: last evening, as I was tucking a few seedlings of white lobelia into this window box, it tried to re-enact the tale of the SS Poseidon, as it tumbled from its bracket and nearly capsized.

Filed under: MLB

He came from humble beginnings, his father was a day laborer and mother, who couldn't read or write English, worked at a textile mill. I bring this up because of his many accomplishments, he is also part owner of the Boston Red Sox. This is by no means a conflict of interest here. I don't think a man who's accomplished this much in his life would tarnish his reputation with a biased report. It will be interesting to see if this is the beginning of the end of the steroid era. Will naming names just embarass few players, then everyone moves on? I don't think so. The report supposedly is most critical of both the Commissioner and the MLBPA for enabling a drug culture that was pervasive throughout the sport. Mitchell calls for independent drug testing and counselling for players on the dangers of performance enhancing drugs.

Denzel Gives Out Some Washingtons!

The handsome megastar hit up Mr. Chow -- and not only did he give a homeless man $100, he also stopped to sign autographs for all the fans who crowded him. Not once did Denzel lose his cool despite hundreds of flashes going off in his face. When you've got swagger like this, drama isn't necessary! .

One Woman's World

I don't care if they come with a padded wagon and a white jacket, I am not going to do it. I will never, never cut the tips of my fingernails straight across so they can be in style with today's fingernail fetish.

I recently noticed that Robin McGraw (wife of the notorious Dr. Phil McGraw) had her fingernails cut straight across at the tips. Wondering if she had gotten caught in the family lawnmower or if, once again, I was running far behind the style wagon of women's fads and fashions, I asked my stylish daughter about Robin's fingernails.

'Like look-alike mannequins, most women try to market themselves by the way they look. Into this outer cesspool of insanity goes the flesh. If anything slides south, they have it pulled further north and stapled... .'

Not to my surprise, she replied softly "It's the style, Mother.

Rialto perchlorate case parties agree to delay

A messy battle over efforts to clean up Rialto's drinking water continued Tuesday as suspected polluters and government agencies agreed to push past a court-imposed deadline.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge was scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday regarding whether state cleanup hearings held by the State Water Resources Control Board can go forward.

But state officials working for the Riverside-based Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and three suspected polluters wanted 60 more days to continue negotiating a settlement to the contamination dispute instead of going through hearings before the state board.

"The parties want some additional time to continue the talks," said Kurt Berchtold, assistant executive officer of the regional board.

In case those two-month-old talks unravel, the parties are also trying to agree on a schedule to resolve the court dispute over whether the state hearings can even take place.