Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - May 27, 2011

Memorial Day:

It's the Memorial Day weekend, commonly known as the unofficial start of summer and often forgotten for what it's really about.
Memorial Day comes to us from the Civil War era, instituted by Northern Army General JOHN LOGAN who, in 1868 ordered that a day be set aside to decorate the graves of the war dead and to place flowers on the gravesites of comrades who died in defense of their country during the Civil War.
This is why Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day. It was originally celebrated on May 30th because it was the day when the most flowers were said to be in bloom in the old Civil War North.
Because Decoration Day was declared by a union general, many southern states refused to participate. Several of those states still celebrate Confederate Memorial Day.

Related stories:

The 2011 Indianapolis 500 will start at 12 pm (Eastern) on Sunday and mark 100 years of Indianapolis history as 33 of the best drivers in the world race to take the checkered flag in "The Most Important Race in History."

Memorial Day Weekend usually marks the unofficial start of the summer boating season, though lots of boaters are still hurting from high fuel prices just like motorists hitting the road. Typical fuel consumption for a 'low usage" boating enthusiast: seven to 10 gallons an hour.

Most popular Boat names (Boat-US Graphics Dep't):

--Sea Quest
--The Salt Shaker
--Hydrotherapy
--Black Pearl
--Dream Weaver
--Wind Seeker
--Aqua-holic
--Second Chance
--Summer Daze
--Seas the Day (or some variation the Carpe Diem theme)
Editor's note: FirstBoat adds these names: Happy Ours, State of Mind, Anchor Management, The Office, Feelin' Nauti; Yes, Dear; and Serenity Now.

Rejected boat names (Maiman):

--The Leaky Seat
--The Sink or Swim
--The Gravy Boat
--Titanic
--I Can't Believe It's Not Floating
--The [afternoon drive guy]

Guilty Pleasures:

No winner in Wednesday night's drawing for the Powerball Lottery. That means Saturday night's drawing is valued at $171 million ($88.7 million cash value). Powerball is played in 44 states, Washington DC and the U-S Virgin Islands. Chances of winning the grand prize (all five numbers plus the powerball) are 1 in 195.2 million.

Top-10 BBQ guests in history:

So you're doing a lot of barbecuing this summer. Having any company? If you could invite anyone, who'd be at the top of the list? Smithsonian magazine asked its readers and while family was at the top, choices two through 10 were interesting. Imagine the table conversation with this group:
10. Mark Twain
9. Albert Einstein
8. George Washington
7. Leonardo da Vinci
6. John Adams
5. Abraham Lincoln
4. Jesus
3. Thomas Jefferson
2. Ben Franklin
1. Your family
Editor's note: Shockingly, JESSICA SIMPSON, PARIS HILTON and BRITNEY SPEARS all failed to make the list. However, they were invited to the nude volleyball game after the barbecue! (Maiman)