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Show Take Note: 4 Friday, April 6,2007 TV lovers unite! Head to www.tvsquad.com for more indepth analysis of your favorite shows that you can shake a stick at. 797-1769 diversions@statesman.usu.edu VERSI .s&s•-•- *5F%' - . .3***, *..•**$ A'* >' £7. Editor's note: As a paper we do not encourage any readers to go out and try this. If you decide to, please do so responsibly in a wide-open area axvayfrom anything flammable. BY STEVE SHINNEY Diversions Editor A little-known but growing fad at USU allows participants to enjoy each other's company and pretend to be a dragon at the same time. Fire breathing. Julie Gillespie, a junior in family, consumer and human development, has been breathing fire for a couple years now. "My roommate's best friend had done it for family home evening one time and we wanted to try it," she said. "So we bought all the stuff and went for it." The dry campus-friendly method employed by most combustible students uses corn starch instead of the traditional alcohol to fuel the flames. The fire breather pours a small amount of starch into their mouth. They then spit it out over a lit lighter. The corn starch then catches flame, producing a small ball of fire. "You don't want to blow right into the flame," said Joel Gillespie, a graduate student in computer science and Julie's husband, who is an occasional fire-breathing partner. "That'll just put it out." Both Gillespies said the secret was to spray the powder out as a mist, rather than a stream. Students interested in trying fire breathing should be aware it may attract attention. Step by step: Having a hot time Step One v Pour a small amount (between 1/4 to 1/8) of a cup of corn starch into a cup. Step Fivey Observe the great ball of fire you just created. Step Four A Spray the starch out of your mouth. Try to make a large airy cloud rather than a stream. -<StepTwo Transfer the starch into your mouth. Step Three A Light the flame. • FIRE BREATHING see page 5 All photos by Gideon Oakes Baby Animal Days lets the young of all different species get together BY T O M LILJECREN Senior Writer BABY ANIMAL DAYS at The American West Heritage Center lets kids make friends with their animal counterparts. This weekend, students can rent the recently released "Charlotte's Web" to see cute and interesting farm animals on screen. Or, they can visit Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center and see the real thing. Baby Animal Days, which began yesterday and continues today and tomorrow, has become one of the American West Heritage Center's most popular events, drawing up to 12,000 visitors last year. In addition to baby animals, the event also features crafts demonstrations, animal exhibits, Easter activities and a children's rodeo. Despite the myriad of other attractions, the baby animals are still the main draw, said David Sidwell, program director at the American West Heritage Center. "There will be baby animals everywhere," he said. Most of the animals can be held or at least petted. A variety of different animals will be on hand for the event, including standard farm animals such as goats, sheep, pigs, colts, guinea pigs and rabbits. However, more unusual animals such as yaks, camels and possibly even a baby bison will also be at the event (if the American West Heritage Center's pregnant mother bison cooperates). Staff and animals from the Willow Park Zoo will also be on hand for an exhibition with some of their birds. Besides the animals, the event celebrates the Easter holiday weekend by having three large Easter egg hunts each day on the festival grounds as well as Easter basket decoration. Other arts and crafts such as cookie decorating and box turtle painting will also be available. This year, Baby Animal Days will also feature several new attractions such as Turtle Town - which will feature baby turtles and turtle racing - and the children's rodeo. The Little Buckaroo Children's Rodeo is open to any child who wants to participate. It will have goat tying - tying a ribbon around a young goat - and mutton busting, where the child rides a small sheep. While Baby Animal Days is family-oriented, Sidwell added, "It's the perfect opportunity for a guy to bring a date because girls love the furry, cuddly animals." Additionally, this weekend marks the opening of a new exhibit of Native American rock art photography by Craig Law, a professor of photography at USU. The USU Anthropology Museum will be on hand as well to demonstrate how rock art • BABY ANIMALS see page 5 |