Tonight on the show we have a guy at the Woodlake Nature Center in Richfield, Minnesota who is a bird lover. The Center is 160 acres of beautiful undisturbed nature, a haven for birds and animals of all sorts. The guy is Dave Leslee, an outdoorsman, who is an avid hummingbird watcher. He finds the hummingbird is "nature’s greatest gift to us.” They can fly forward, backwards, any which way. They migrate up to 3,000 without the need of a GPS. “Nothing is better than the hummingbird,” exclaims Mr. Leslee. Dave the host adds, “And the hummingbird is mighty tasty!” Mr. Leslee continues with his hummingbird knowledge, informing us that the hummingbird comes in over 350 varieties, and at one time the feathers of the hummingbird were used to make lady hats. Dave follows with, “And how many hummingbirds would you recommend to make a sandwich?” So what does Dave Leslee have for us tonight? Mr. Leslee invented the Hummer Helmet, a device worn on the head that has 3 hummingbird feeders attached. Wear the Hummer Helmet and you can get the hummingbird to fly inches from your eyes. “That’s good viewing,” chimes Paul. Has one ever flown into Leslee’s mouth? He says that if you put some of the sweet nectar in your mouth, a hummingbird will eat right out of it. Has Leslee done this? Yes, he has.

When we return, Dave Leslee will be wearing the Hummer Helmet to show us how it works.

Meanwhile, it’s time for a Telemundo Highlight. Tonight’s installment is a woman confronting her estranged father. We see a clip of a man being beaten by a woman on the talk show, Laura. So much fun is it that three women come out of the audience to join in on the beating. Dave critiques, “Women from the audience beat the man silly with their handbags.”

And there was a bit of the sad news today. The voice of Tony the Tiger, Thorl Ravenscroft, passed away earlier today. In his honor, Kellogg’s released this heartfelt statement.

“Thurl Ravenscroft, the beloved voice of Tony the Tiger, passed away at the age of 91. Memorial services will be held at the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Orange County . . . . and then Mr. Ravenscroft will be buri! ed in a grrrrrrrrrrrave!!!! So long, old friend.”

Back to Woodlake Nature Center in Richfield, Minnesota. He has on his Hummer Helmet. It’s a red baseball helmet adorned with 3 hanging hummingbird feeders. Dave wonders if the feeders spin around. No, they don’t. ! ; Sitting on top of the helmet is the America n flag. Says Dave, “I see the American Flag on the Hummer Helmet . . . can you use it in other countries?” Mr. Leslee says he likes the American Flag, as do the hummingbirds, but you can wear the Hummer Helmet in any country. During the conversation, a cardinal lands just behind Mr. Leslee. Dave the host becomes most excited. It soon flies away. I think Dave’s excitement may have been the cause. After a bit more talk about hummingbirds, Mr. Leslee asks Dave, “Do you know why hummingbirds hum?” Dave, recognizing a set up when he hears one,! says he doesn’t know why. Mr. Leslee answers, “Because they don’t know the words to the song.” Ba-dum bum. Big response from the audience. Dave decides to sit back and remain quiet and let the Hummer Helmet do its stuff. We see Mr. Leslee giggling at his own joke, quite satisfied with his delivery and the response. Unfortunately, the giggling resulted in the feeders to jiggle . . . a giggle jiggle, if you will. (I had a teacher in college who finished everything with, “if you will.”)&n! bsp; The sugar water nectar splashed out of t he hummingbird feeders, making for a very funny scene. We watch a little more and then go to commercial.

Back from commercial, still no hummingbirds circling the Hummer Helmet. Is this a good day to attract hummingbirds? Yes it is. It’s 70 degrees and the birds are hungry. But so far, no birds. Perhaps it’s the camera and crew milling about inches from Mr. Leslee and the Hummer Helmet.

Dave asks Mr. Leslee if he’s ever seen hummingbird eggs? He has, and says they are about the size of a dime. Dave asks, “And how many of those would it take to make an omelet?”

ADAM SANDLER: Adam is familiar with the Hummer Helmet, having one very similar. His was the Grizzly Bear Helmet --- it was a helmet with slabs of meat hanging down. Adam recently was honored with having his hand and footprints placed in cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. They like to put celebrities next to ot! her celebrities who have a lot in common. Who is Adam next to? “Scott Peterson and one of the writer’s from ‘Chips.’”

Adam also was given the honor of announcing the start of a race at Talladega Raceway in Alabama. All day long, everyone wanted to know, “How are you going to say the line? How are you going to say the line?” Adam was aware that there was a right way and a wrong way to say, “Gentlemen, start your engines.” After much thought, he came u! p with, “Gentlemen, I think I might be queer . . . start your engines!”

Adam is in The Longest Yard which opens this Friday. Did Adam play football as a kid? He says he played some quarterback in the Pop Warner league up to about 12 years old. Then a kid named Sean Wallace moved to town and all of a sudden Adam was dropped from the A-Team down to the B-Team. Adam’s mom, being a mom, explained, “They’re just trying to make the B-Team stronger.”

The Longest Yard was filmed at a prison in New Mexico. To get the feel for working and living in a prison, Adam felt he needed to do some research . . . so he killed a drifter. But because he is a celebrity, they just gave him a $50 fine and had to sign a few autographs for the judge’s daughter. The Longest Yard – it opens Friday. Adam plays the Burt Reynolds character.

Back from commercial, we see in the bumper shot that Dave Leslee is being visited by a raccoon. I was a bit surprised at how long a raccoon’s legs are. The raccoon checked out the area, then ran away.

REGGIE MILLER: retiring after 18 years playing for the NBA Indiana Pacers. What made him stay his entire career in Indianapolis? Reggie loved the city, the people, and the team had great management. It was a perfect setting. Why is Reggie retiring? Dave feels he could put in another year or two. Reggie explains that you always want to leave with the crowd wanting more. Dave laments he wishes HE left when the crowd still wanted more. Who does Reggie admire in today’s game? Allan Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers is a great watch and a great talent. Who today plays most like Reggie? Richard Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons. Hamilton grew up watching Reggie and has learned all his little tricks. Reggie then explains the incident that took place back in November between the Pacers and the Pistons. After the suspensions, the Pacers were left with 6 players. And they then went on a good run, winning 3 or 4 in a row.&nb! sp; No one expected them to make the playoffs, but they did. The season ended in disappointment last week when they lost to the Pistons in 6, but overall it was a season to be proud of. Dave still blames the league for what happened in the donnybrook in Detroit. It’s up to the league to keep the fans away from the performers. If it takes the ban of selling alcohol at the games, then stop the sale of alcohol.

Reggie Miller: #31
- scored over 25,000 points, 12th all-time
- NBA All-Time leader in 3-point shots made (2,560 in the regular season)
- 5-time All-Star
- Gold Medal winner in the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Scored 27 points in this final NBA game – game 6 vs. the Detroit Pistons.

ACT 5: It’s more of Dave Leslee trying to attract hummingbirds.

THE WALLFLOWERS: From their brand new CD, Rebel, Sweetheart, The Wallflowers performed “The Beautiful Side of Somewhere

“Rebel, Sweetheart” – Rebel, like rebellion. Re-BEL.

To close the show, we visit Dave Leslee one last time. “Any nibbles? Any bites? Any encounters?” Mr. Leslee says the only encounter involved the raccoon. Dave asks if he is thinking of building a helmet to attract raptors or eagles. Mr. Leslee says he is not, but is working on one for bears and elephants.

And that was our show for Tuesday, May 24, 2005. Wahoo EXTRA!

I’m sitting in the shack watching the show, and Dave Leslee says “Do you know why hummingbirds hum?” I answered with the obvious, “Because they don’t know the words.” Those in the shack were surprised I knew the joke. I was amazed they didn’t. It’s one of the oldest jokes around. I couldn’t understand it. I wonder if they know the banana-knock-knock joke.

I was very interested in the Hummer Helmet and the hummingbird talk. I’m in the process of trying to attract hummingbirds to the backyard. I’m just in the planting stage, planting red plants and stuff in hopes of bringing in butterflies and hummingbirds. I read that to really get the hummingbirds, I should lay out one of those bright red picnic tablecloths along with the feeders. The red will attract the birds from a distance. That’s penciled in for 2006.

Tom Glavine . . . still getting it done for the Atlanta Braves.

And how long will it be before a New York Post headline reads Haz-Matsui following another error by Kas Matsui? Get it? Haz-Mat, short for Hazardous Material? Get it?

THIS DATE IN HISTORY:
May 24, 1844 – Samuel Morse transmitted the world’s first telegraph message to his associate 40 miles away. The message was: “What hath God wrought?”

And in honor of Samual Morse:
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