PSoTD

If you are, or have been, married - did the two of you have a song that you saw/see as your "wedding song", either from the ceremony or the reception or the honeymoon or paying the bills later? Here's ours:

Put yours in comments. I will, however, dock five points for any comment of "Macarena".

I'm not sure it's really "free", but somebody's tracking offers.

I bet Chuck Todd is jealous.

Fun little event, 29 different acts performed by elementary school kids. One comedian, one juggler, two magic acts, and a whole slew of singing and dancing performances. Here's the biggest thing I learned last night:

Miley Cyrus owns the elementary girl marketplace, at least around here. There were five - FIVE - performances done to her songs, all different songs, and all girl performers. How do I know they were Miley Cyrus? I knew a couple of the songs, but my daughter told me there were five. She's a fan too, she knows.

Here's what I learned this morning: The official Miley Cyrus websites kinda bother me. I didn't stay to figure out why, but I guess I think it's too "Tiger Beat" magazine of a web site. I know, it's not for me...

I bet this site makes Chris Matthews jealous.

He is the NBA's most undermentioned superstar, but the NBA playoffs series with the Lakers may have finally exposed Tim Duncan's age. Whereas in the past he could carry the Spurs for segments of the game, in the series against the Lakers, he was never really that guy. It doesn't help that much of Duncan's inside help are guys even older than him.

Still, as a big guy, Duncan's longevity is admirable. Even greater: how many 6'11 players have had the consistently great seasons, compiled into an 11 year career? Take a look at his career. That is a model of consistency in the NBA that most big guys don't have.

But perhaps some day I'll stay at the Hotel Kessler.

Harvey Korman passed away today. I wasn't a big fan of the Carol Burnett show, but man, Korman was a funny guy.

Hardly anyone my age has a facebook account. All those old friends for high school that I might actually find entertaining to read about aren't anywhere.

I'm not sure what Facebook can do about this. Maybe they ought to tie in with reunion.com somehow. Or maybe I should just come back and check out Facebook again in a couple of years.

Or maybe I should just accept that the 1970s high school generation just ain't gonna Facebook much.

I used to throw a tank of plus in every now and then (imagining I might get "better performance"). But these days, it's regular all the way!

This has to be a good time to buy stock in bicycle companies.

Apparently there is, or was, a "deep underground of Egyptian Heavy Metal".

Garbage trucks eat a lot of fuel.

A daily gas bill for Kevin and Dawn Wright averages about $3,200.

The couple owns K&D Disposal Inc. in Palmyra, and that’s what it costs these days to keep their fleet of 13 garbage trucks on the road.

Six months ago, their daily gas bill averaged around $2,100. Eighteen months ago, it was about $1,700 — or close to half of what it is now.

“It’s terrible — it really is,” said Kevin, seated in the small office in the back of a giant pole barn at the business’ Garnsey Road headquarters. “That’s our biggest thing, and it is for everybody. It’s the fuel.”

Think the mileage on an SUV is bad? Each of the Wrights’ giant garbage trucks gets a wee two-and-a-half to three miles for a single gallon of diesel, which last week was up to $4.89.

It’s not just the size of the trucks that makes the miles-to-fuel ratio so dismal, it’s the fact that garbage trucks are stop-and-go, stop-and-go. They’ve got 75-gallon tanks, and by day’s end, about 50 gallons have been spent.

I'm curious about this life in Polaroids.

There are pros and cons about population density, and high density is not for everyone. I know, because I'm not one that high density is for. But check out the Comparative Population Density of 49 Cities.

Telecom is spending the bucks in Washington. And here's why.

It is time to call it a career for Lanny Davis and his television punditry or political expertise or whatever he pretends he's espousing when the cameras are live.

I don't think Hugh Laurie's "American" accent is bad, but then I don't watch House.

A Brief History of the Kama Sutra.

In my previous information industry employment incarnation, we had a mantra - no credit for political or campaign entities. PERIOD. Why? Because they are notorious slow, or no, payers. Cash in advance. Those were different times, but this is exactly why those were our rules.

You realize that the "scooter" needs a lot of marketing brainpower, and probably design brainpower, to co-exist with American testosterone.

In all these polls about "Hillary Clinton’s Swing-State Advantage" in a head-to-head versus McCain, I have not seen anything about the possibility that the strongest Hillary advocates actually have an incentive to say they would vote for McCain over Obama, regardless of whether they would or not. The Clinton campaign has primarily been ONLY about this "advantage" over the past few weeks, and the most partisan Hillary supporters certainly should have gotten the message that this is what is perceived to be their strongest argument left. If polled, why would Clinton advocates say they'd support Obama over McCain? That defeats their own campaign.

I like instrumentals.

That's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it.

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has a nice little calendar application so you can see what is going on, either at ALL of their parks or at one of their parks. I have a suggestion - they should also add a feature to generate a calendar by one of their regions. If you look at their map, you see they break their parks into 7 different geographic regions - it would be nice to be able to generate a calendar by those regions. After all, we might be looking for something to do at some relatively close state park some day, but we don't want to have to do a search on ALL the parks.

It looks like Hillary Clinton is going to beat Rudy Giuliani this November for President.

If there was only a way for me to continually drop bucketloads of turds on Scott McClellan, I might be able to communicate the feeling I have towards him and his book right now.

In fact, if I had the time I'd invent the McClellanator, a perpetual motion machine driven by a community's sewage that used gravity to bucket and then drop the sewage contents on McClellan.

And if I were a Godlike entity, I would make it so McClellan lived forever yet could not move and could not avoid the perpetual turd-delivering McClellanator.

These are the times where I regret the limitations of my power.

I always thought that saying had some sort of hidden meaning, but apparently it's so obvious I really didn't need to look it up:

The slang term 'qt' is a shortened form of 'quiet'. There's no definitive source for the phrase 'on the q.t.', although it appears to be of 19th century British origin - not, as is often supposed, American. The longer phrase 'on the quiet' is also not especially old, but is first recorded somewhat before 'on the qt', in Otago: Goldfields & Resources, 1862:

"Unless men can work [the gold] on 'the quiet', they are not likely to make 'piles' so rapidly as Messrs. Hartley and Riley."

I guess there's more than one way for somebody to "be packing" at Old Country Buffet...

No guns allowed.

The Police Department has been querying businesses to see where people are allowed to carry weapons, and where it is prohibited by company policy.

The query follows an incident in which a dozen customers at Old Country Buffet were questioned by police for openly carrying guns. One person was detained and his gun confiscated.

To Chief Stadnitski’s surprise, the response from business owners has been overwhelmingly against allowing gun-carrying patrons in their establishments.

“And many, they’re not just saying ‘no.’ They’re very vocal about this,” he said. “We expected more businesses to allow it.”

The only Dickson City business that has said it will allow customers to carry firearms to date is Cartridge World, said Chief Stadnitski.

Hey, I don't want any guns in my place of business. Nor do I want any guns where I go to dinner.

I guess Cartridge World must have some printer varmints, so you need some firepower to stop 'em before they destroy the stock.

Seriously, if I, for some reason, worked at Cartridge World and some dude came in carrying a gun, I'd be thinking WTF, I gotta get out of here, unless the guy is wearing a police uniform.

You got yours planned yet?

Every summer, Annie and Duane O'Neil look forward to renting a motor home and hitting the road with their four children to explore the West or visit family in Seattle.

This year, with soaring gas prices and the economic downturn hurting the family's office-supply business, a lengthy trip was out of the question.

So instead of heading for the interstate, come August the O'Neils will pile into a rented RV and drive a whopping 12 miles from their home in San Marcos to South Carlsbad State Beach for a five-day getaway.

“I can't imagine going now on one of our normal trips. It would be outrageous,” Annie O'Neil said. “By staying here, we're still getting a great family vacation, but not spending as much.”

Families unable to keep up with rising travel prices, but unwilling to forgo a break from the daily routine, are opting for vacations closer to home in a trend that has a catchy new name: the “staycation.”

I think I'm going to camp out in PSoTD's backyard and fish in the hot tub!

Not quite as catchy.

Alright, it was a beautiful weather holiday weekend, the kind that makes you think you're jumping right into summer regardless of what the calendar says. Summer means picnics and barbecues and just plain eating outdoors. So what is your favorite "summer" food - the kind of food that you primarily see at these outdoor eating events?

I'm a sucker for deviled eggs. I know they're not just a summer food, but summer seems to be the eating gathering time, and if you're at an outdoor potluck you just know somebody's going to bring deviled eggs. Or at least they better, or I'm going to be perplexed. Deviled eggs are a must, and none of that "include relish as the filler" stuff, either.

The Superdelegate Transparency Project is pretty useful, developed by Sourcewatch.

And I thought it was pretty close to certain that Obama was going to win the Democratic nomination, that there was a split party out there, and that it was important for the Democrats to replace the Republicans in power in the White House, that I'd have decided that it's time to start writing about reasons that the "fractured Democrats" should consider Obama again, rather than continuing to write articles essentially promoting the perceptions of the fracture.

From The Replacements.

In our neighborhood at least, there's a big cottontail rabbit population explosion this year. In the past week it hasn't been a shock to see 6 or 7 rabbits kicking around our back yard, from babies to mature adults.

Of course, bunny abundance this year means something else next year. Math equations!

I've just begun to look at this site. Can you really get a good price on large ticket items, or do the auctions eventually drive everything up towards the "Buy It Now" price? And are those "Buy It Now" prices really reasonable?

The Middle Earth Journal has now gone inactive. I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of that from bloggers over the remainder of the year.

Restaurants are trying to kill you with portion size.

Not a bad idea - what would YOU like to ask the Pennsylvania Democratic Party?

I do think that the "Bob Barr Effect" hasn't been considered much yet for the November election. Here's a start.

We need more rock songs about how riding the bus is cool. Can you name two?

Wikis in government.

Sunday morning is the perfect time for a maple bacon donut.

It doesn't appear that Orrs Bridge in Hampden Township "made" the Rebuild PA Accelerated Bridge Program.

I bet they have some T-Rex in their record collection.

Every odd-numbered year, my two brothers' families and ours get together for a big family summer vacation. The selection process rotates, and this time it's my job to find the spot. So, I'm looking for input. I've narrowed it down to about 10 different places around the country, and by the end of this summer I need to have the place figured out. Have any suggestions?

One of the places I'm looking at is the Ozark Mountains region. 11 or 12 people total, 5 kids ranging from 8 to 15. Anyone have any experiences vacationing there they want to share?

How will the art gallery survive?

First Fridays at Fusion Art Gallery have been among the most popular events in the downtown Bentonville area since the art supply store and gallery venue opened its doors in 2005. The first Friday of every month, a new exhibition featuring local artists opened - and Fusion's doors opened to masses of art enthusiasts. It was a monthly celebration of not only original art, but local art.

But the First Friday event scheduled for June 6, which will feature every artist that's even shown at Fusion, will be the last. Owner Cindy Suter recently made the decision to close Fusion Art Gallery for good.

"It's going to be difficult," Suter said of closing the business. "When the economy is struggling the way it is, artwork, galleries and art supplies are normally the first to go. People have to buy groceries, put gas in their car and pay their mortgages. We've clearly felt the effect of what's going on in the economy today."

Thanks for wasting my paper:

Ameritoner.com
Health Care Informer, Volume 1, Issue 1. The first edition! WOW!
Some bogus ass health plan. Screw you, Limited Time Service, supposedly and most definitely not an opt-in fax service.
Another Bahamas Cruise offer. Seriously, does anyone ever respond to this?
Alright, Affordable Life Insurance. Apparently they're affordable because they don't pay for voice lines or physical addresses since neither are provided.
Hey, again! I can die twice now!
The Energy Bull. They're just missing the S word.
PremierHealthCare.
And last, the Human Resources Department finally faxed me about Employee Vacation Time. Apparently they're offering some sort of wholesale rate to the entire company! Hey, I thought I was the Human Resources Department. Apparently I've been demoted.

I hear you moan, I hear you moan, I hear you moan.

Bash Hillary Clinton here.

Bash Barack Obama here.

Bash your brain into mush here.

The Australians have something called "National Sorry Day".

They can be annoying things.

New Poll Finds Big Shift Toward Obama

A new poll released today in California finds political momentum shifting dramatically toward Barack Obama—and away from both Hillary Clinton and John McCain—in the nation's most populous state. According to a survey conducted over the past 10 days by the Public Policy Institute of California, 59 percent of likely voters here now have a "favorable" impression of Democrat Obama, while a majority view both of the other candidates unfavorably. In a state whose Democratic primary Clinton won in February, 51 percent of voters now say they have an unfavorable opinion of her; 53 percent of voters feel the same way about Republican McCain.

Obama, meanwhile, seems to be making strides across nearly every constituency. If the general election were held today, 54 percent of Californians say they would vote for him, compared with 37 percent for McCain. That gap has widened by 8 points since March.

I wonder if this has to do a lot with public perception of how Obama's dealing with Hillary Clinton at this point. Her campaign efforts are portrayed by the press as a "threat" to Obama, and yet he generally appears calm and controlled under that threat. Her very campaign is now making him appear - dare I say - presidential. What she's doing in the spring in order to try to beat him may actually help him in the fall.

Not sure why anyone uses it anymore, it seems like Yahoo Mail and Gmail are superior products. Here's more fun from Hotmail, the kinds of things that community email discussion lists have to deal with.

Last error: 5.0.0 550 SC-001 Mail rejected by Windows Live Hotmail for policy reasons. Reasons for rejection may be related to content with spam-like characteristics or IP/domain reputation problems. If you are not an email/network admin please contact your E-mail/Internet Service Provider for help.

It's not spam but discussion from a list the recipient physically signed up for, but Hotmail rejects it because they're not smart enough to figure that out. The intended recipient never sees it. Nice feature!

I never expected to get into another Elvis Costello record but Momofuku is dominating my music player big time. I was a huge Costello fan back in the day (weren't we all?) but haven't connected with anything from him in about twenty years - since say Blood and Chocolate.

When this latest record showed up on Rhapsody, I grudgingly gave it a listen and a couple songs caught my ear just enough to spin it again. Then after about three times through everything was grabbing me. Momofuku could have been a solid follow up to Armed Forces or Get Happy.

I'd point you to some of the cuts but you're better off discovering your own favorites. If you ever were into Elvis, be sure to give it a listen. It's neat to have Elvis back in heavy rotation in 2008.

I'd be curious to see if, ten years later, this has changed.

Next year I'm going to plant a couple of American Persimmons in the back yard. Hell, maybe I'm starting an orchard.

The main reason I'm interested in persimmons is because our family has a LONG tradition (well, apparently my grandmother's mom made it, so that's a long time ago) of making persimmon pudding. I have the recipe around here somewhere, but there are lots of versions of it online.

And in the light of the information marketplace, it ought to be called idiocy.

Its creators admit it is the ultimate in decadence: a $175 hamburger.

The Wall Street Burger Shoppe just raised its price from $150 to assure its designation as the costliest burger in the city as determined by Pocket Change, an online newsletter about the most expensive things in New York.

"Wall Street has good days and bad days. We wanted to have the everyday burger (for $4) ... and then something special if you really have a good day on Wall Street," said co-owner Heather Tierney.

Hey, you want to know what I want? A federal 50% sales tax on any restaurant item that costs over $150. If these people are stupid enough to waste their money like this, at least somebody ought to benefit besides a marketplace that promotes such excess.

When they can't even produce reasonable districts?

Whatshername wrote about it.

From the California Catholic Daily:

Even in the face of an estimated $20 billion budget deficit, a bill that would raise revenues by imposing a 25% tax on earnings of the pornography industry is meeting with stiff resistance in the California legislature, with opponents claiming it would drive a multi-billion-dollar industry out of the state.

The bill, AB 2914, authored by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, would levy a 25% tax on gross revenues from the sale of pornographic magazines, photos, books, films and videotapes, and on the gross earnings of live sexually explicit entertainment and pay-per-view pornography provided to hotel guests.

According to a legislative analysis of the bill, it could raise up to $665 million a year in new revenues for the financially strapped state.

At a May 12 hearing, opponents testified that imposing a 25% tax on porn industry profits could drive the business out of California, at a cost in jobs and other revenues of as much as $3.5 billion. It would have an especially hard impact, witnesses testified, on the San Fernando Valley, said to be the "porn capital of the world."

Republicans in the legislature have indicated they would vote against the bill because it is a tax increase and they oppose any tax increase of any stripe. Under state law, tax increases require a 2/3 majority of both houses of the legislature.

This is kind of a strange tax issue. One of the things that concerns me about what government entities choose to "special tax", for whatever purposes and whatever special rate, is the investment by that government into the success or failure of the subject of that tax. I know that there are some that speculate that such a tax in California would squeeze the porn industry out of California, but I think there's just as great of likelihood that the porn industry would receive special business benefits from future government policy once the state government got a taste for the tax revenues.

In other words - governmental protection. I don't care either way if California would do this, but I think that those looking at this issue ought to realize the potential. Looking at a tax policy as a way to drive an industry away might actually backfire because of a government's need for revenue.

And the people have spoken. Either I don't have a good "moustache face" or I don't have a good "face moustache" or both. So I have rotated the whisker acres once more, and am clean shaven.

But to haunt your dreams, the floating stache!

Here's something I find interesting about Kentucky. In a primary where Obama was hammered by Clinton, on an election day where a U.S. Senate seat and several US House seats and several state legislature seats had primary races for election in Kentucky:

Obama received more votes than all the Republican candidates for President in Kentucky.

Are Republicans in Kentucky really that disinterested in this primary? Are they lazy? Or is it a sign that Republicans are THAT disorganized and distanced from their national party at this point?

And where's the media on reporting this?

Superficiality reaches a new level. We're ridiculing unattractive produce!

Uppity blind people are causing trouble.

WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal appeals court says paper money discriminates against blind people.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has upheld a ruling that could force the U.S. to redesign its money so blind people can distinguish between values.

Such changes could include making bills different sizes, including raised markings or printing oversized numbers for people who see poorly.

The appeals court ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that the U.S. didn't explain why such changes would be an unreasonable burden, especially since many other countries have done so.

Sure, they're down nationally, but they must be up at repossession auctions.

I promise this will be my last post about Monty Python this week. (No I didn't!) If you'd like a giggle the scripts are online to read here. Here's a random bit from the second season:

Linkman (very excited): Hello and welcome to 'Election Night Special'. There's great excitement here as we should be getting the first results through any minute now. We don't know where it'll be from...it might be Leicester or from Luton. The polling's been quite heavy in both areas... oh, wait a moment...I'm just getting...I'm just getting a loud buzzing noise in my left ear. Excuse me a moment. (he bangs ear and knocks a large bee out) Uuggh! (cheering from crowd). Anyway, let's go straight over to James Gilbert at Leicester.

Shot of returning officer in front of a group consisting half of grey-suited, half of silly-dressed candidates and agents. The silly ones are in extraordinary hats, false noses etc.

Voice Over Well it's a straight fight here at Leicester...On the left of the Returning Officer (camera shoes grey-suited man) you can see Arthur Smith, the Sensible candidate and his agent, (camera pans to silly people) and on the other side is the silly candidate Jethro Walrustitty with his agent and his wife.

Officer Here is the result for Leicester. Arthur J. Smith...

Voice Over Sensible Party

Officer 30,612...Jethro Q. Walrustitty...

Voice Over Silly Party

Officer 32,108.

Cheering from the crowd. Cut back to studio.
Linkman (even more excited) Well, there's the first result and the Silly Party has held Leicester. What do you make of that, Norman?

Cut to Norman. He is very excited.

Norman Well, this is largely as I predicted, except that the Silly Party won. I think this is largely due to the number of votes cast. Gerald?

Anything written about the actions and sentiments of the dreaded "creative class".

Just more proof that being "blogtrendy" can also mean being intensely partial to the newest shallow cliches.

For years - maybe 20 years - I rarely have dreams that I can recall. I don't know if this means I'm not having any dreams, or if I just NEVER wake up at a point to remember them. I guess I should be happy that I don't have nightmares.

Anyway, somebody sent me this link to The Curious Dreamer the other day, and I figured that some of you that actually have dreams that you can remember might want to check it out.

Most of the suggestions listed in the article "How consumers can cut their grocery bills" are painfully obvious to anyone who spends more than a couple of times each year doing grocery shopping, but at least the writer didn't recommend going to more restaurants.

There's no shortage of articles about how people should spend, and are spending, their rebate checks.

Greek Festivals happened all over the country this past weekend. We went Sunday to the Camp Hill festival after the rain finally passed. We try to do this every year because we love the food. Very low attendance at 2:30 on Sunday, they were actually selling desserts at a 2 for 1 price. If only they would do that with the gyros and souvlaki!

Looks like weather played havoc with their crowds, but it has to rain harder than that to keep us away.

No cheating. I'll know if you look at the source.

A few weeks ago I snuck Monty Python and the Holy Grail into our NetFlix queue. This is one of the silliest movies of all time, and also one of my favorite comedies, and it had been quite a while since I had watched it, and I thought our oldest would enjoy it.

Of course, she was not happy that I had knocked some other movie she wanted to see back further in the queue, so she started with a chip on her shoulder. Plus, it was an old movie. 1975? Was it black and white? C'mon, Dad.

I shot back: C'mon, you like Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Time and they're from the same time frame. She was barely mollified, but she and I and her brother sat down with some popcorn to watch MP on Saturday night.

I'm not going to deny it. I laughed out loud several times. Still. I had to skip the final part about Sir Galahad and Castle Anthrax, but it took me until the spanking scene was about to begin to remember what was coming wasn't really appropriate for the kids. Our son laughed out loud several times, at predictable times. He loved the killer rabbit, and the Black Knight. Oh, and the French throwing the cow. And I heard him say "Knights that say Ni!" a couple of times.

Our daughter? Begrudging at best. She liked the Bridge of Death Scene. "Blue. No YeAAAAAAGH!" she laughed a couple of times. And she also wanted to watch the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog scene over, which we did. But at the end, she said she didn't really like it.

I'll be listening these next few weeks for her to repeat some of the movie's lines. That's how the Monty Python infection starts, and then it builds. We'll see.

Everybody know about this? If you have kids with phones, you probably do. They record their message to sound like they're actually answering the phone and talking to you. Then you get "Ha ha ha ... what are you talking to my voice mail for?"

Very annoying. I'm putting one on my phone tomorrow!

Who is the most famous person you have ever kissed?

Best answer scores a pair of well-fitting khaki pants!

There's a BIG opportunity to make motorized bicycles cool in America.

Every odd-numbered year, my two brothers' families and ours get together for a big family summer vacation. The selection process rotates, and this time it's my job to find the spot. So, I'm looking for input. I've narrowed it down to about 10 different places around the country, and by the end of this summer I need to have the place figured out. Have any suggestions?

One of the places I'm looking at is Mackinac Island. There will be 6 adults, all in their 40s, and 5 kids, from 8 to 14. I'm a little afraid this place will be lacking in the kid interest department, but feel free to convince me otherwise.

Not sure this is the right economic time for it, but it would a cool business for Central Pennsylvania.

7:02 PM - The Grille of Hampden

"What is your vegetable du jour?"

"Oh, that's the vegetable of the day!"

It's a great song, period. Interesting version of it.

Jonah Goldberg calls the idea horrifying and says it would send cold shivers down his spine - if he had a spine.

I'm sold. Attorney General John Edwards it is!

Is that really a way to charge for air transportation?

I agree with Lone Wolf. The government should make fat people pay more for gasoline. Since they weigh more, it takes more fuel to move that person from point A to point B than a person in good shape like myself. If you make fat people in America pay say $6 a gallon, that would inspire them to walk or bike instead of drive, and then maybe they can lose some weight. At least then I can respect that person.

I assume that the author of that comment would also agree that children should be charged less than adults, and that jockeys should be charged less than basketball players.

This probably would be a boon to commercial scale manufacturers.

I'm going to have to take The UPS Store up on this for our mailbox service.

Call-in MailCheck® Save time. Save a trip. Call us to find out if you have mail.

It's just not worth going down there if the mailbox is going to be empty.

I think I'm going to go 2 for 2 on the baseball front with our kids. I, having been raised in a household of sports fanship, of playing organized baseball until late teens, had been a bit concerned. Was baseball going to be too boring to our kids?

Our daughter proved it not to be for herself, at least at this point. She loves the big league ballpark experience. She loves playing softball. She'll play catch if you ask. She seems to be... invested, at least as much as a 5th grader can be.

But after one year of tee-ball, the youngest wasn't so sold. After last season, he told me he didn't want to play baseball, that he had "already learned it". I explained that he was going to play SOME spring sport, and it was probably a choice between baseball and soccer.

Okay, soccer.

So I explained a bit further - you run a lot in soccer. A LOT.

Okay, baseball.

So, he's now in his second season, and this year, he's into it. The coach gives baseball cards out to the kids who make outs in the field. He's not a bad fielder for his age, so he's been loving that, and I'm enjoying his reading of the cards on the way home. Are 89 BBs good? This guy had 89 in the BBs column. Is that good?

Is he a pitcher or a hitter?

He plays outfield.

That's pretty good, I explain.

He now likes playing catch, just about anytime. Game days he wants to put his uniform on. He keeps asking to do it, usually ends up with it on at least a half hour before we need to go. Then he asks if he should put his cleats on. Over and over and over. He's ready to go.

It's all cool. He wants to play the game, and that feels good to me.

There sure are a lot of her supporters out their claiming she'd help make a "dream ticket"...

I still like the idea of choosing her for Supreme Court Justice.

Web developers have to make sure their code works for the Firefox browser. I must admit to being surprised, in the past week I've run into two sites which don't work on Firefox, and that's really not a good idea. After all...

Firefox reaches 18 percent of corporate desktops

and...

So, based on XiTi and IWS’s statistics, roughly 1 in 5 Internet users prefer Firefox, assuming Internet and web usage are correlated.

Had to bump that freaky hot tub picture down. Although this is kind of freaky, too.

This is a permanent ban violation at our house.

by bobby__emm

I hope so. Not that he's not useful for the Reds, but they need to clear some salary to build for the future.

Alright, this blows me away.

I wanted to look up the place where we lived in Muncie, Indiana, in the last 1960s - the first house my parents bought. There's something on Google Maps I haven't checked out before, Street View, so I try it. And there it is, our old neighborhood. As if I were standing on the street. I turn east, walk down the street a bit, and there's our old place.

Amazingly, the giant oak tree on the east side of the yard is still there. All the little trees - they may have been dogwoods, I don't remember - that were on the west side yard are gone. The house looks about the same from the outside, nearly 40 years later. The back yard now looks tiny. For most of the time we lived there, our back yard came up next to a woods, but with the development now there, it really was tiny.

I took a virtual walk around the neighborhood. Much of it I don't remember, because it wasn't there when we lived there. I can see our friends' houses. I decided to retrace the bike ride to the old Rexall's Drug Store and Village Pantry stores that we'd go to on Saturday to buy candy and baseball cards. There's our park to the left and what used to be a soybean field to the right - still some sort of farming field, but can't tell the crop. I don't remember a sidewalk being on Eaton Avenue but it's there now. Past the stop sign where Terry and I picked up the dormant water moccasin and threw it - 11 year olds can be SO stupid - only to find out it had slithered away later when the sun had warmed up the ground that early spring day.

It's a bit longer of a bike ride than I remember, but I get to where it used to be... and there are the buildings, right there on Memorial Drive and Eaton Avenue, both of them. I can't tell what they are now. But they are businesses.

Just an amazing little trip. Thank you, Google Maps.

Yes, there's still a lot of local government in Pennsylvania not using the Internet.

In analyzing the quality of e-government services among municipal governments (including boroughs, townships and cities), the most striking finding was how little local governments in rural Pennsylvania use the Internet at all, as measured by the availability of a website. The exception, a county with a strong tourism economy, had a high-level Internet presence.

Lack of broadband is a big part of the issue.

THEY WILL DESTROY!

Apparently the Clinton campaign and their supporters believe that she's still the inevitability candidate in November, if she can just overturn the current status of delegates for the primary races. That's the only sense I can make out of the "Obama can win, Hillary will win in November" argument.

However, I think that campaign theme has been discredited already. Why would somebody buy that as an argument for the fall when the same argument has been so clearly destroyed in the spring?

A relatively big lobbyist in Pennsylvania - and not a client - sent me an email inviting me to join him in a "professional" social networking group (not FaceBook, in case you were wondering). I have a theory that it's really an effort to try to build some internet buzz about the company providing the software/framework, because I don't do any work with this lobbyist but I suppose I'm known to the community for our web development.

So... I guess I'll refrain from joining.

I just wanted to promote this very early piece of web design art. Dole was still a candidate back in those days!

From Hillary's speech last night:

And I will be back. As we move on now to the next contests, in Kentucky and Oregon, in Puerto Rico, in Montana and South Dakota, tonight I'm thinking about Florence Steen from South Dakota, eighty-eight years old and in failing health when she asked that her daughter bring an absentee ballot to her hospice bedside. Florence was born before women had the right to vote, and she was determined to exercise that right, to cast a ballot for her candidate who just happened to be a woman running for president. Florence passed on a few days ago, but I am eternally grateful to her and her family for making this such an important and incredible milestone in her life that means so much to me. I’m also thinking of Dalton Hatfield, an 11-year-old boy from Kentucky, who sold his bike and sold his video games to raise money to support my campaign.

That Hatfield kid seems to have "political operative" written all over his future. I do kinda wonder what kind of reception he'll be getting at school for selling his bike and games to give money to a failing political candidate.

There are many foods that I disliked as a kid but have developed a taste for over the years. Clams, sauerkraut, cooked carrots... lotsa others. But pickles are still x'ed off my list and I anticipate they'll stay that way.

What really annoys me about pickles is that restaurants insist on letting them share the plate with sandwiches. This is wrong! Pickles infect whatever they touch with gross pickle juice. When a pickle arrives on my plate positioned promiscuously next to my sandwich and fries, I toss it on the table in disgust.

Join the cause! Ostracize the pickle! Maybe one day we can make the sour green gourd the dinner table outcast it rightfully should be.

I've always liked Chrissie.

Bad strategy for the pledged delegate leader to devalue delegate pledges.

I've been tagged, with this:

1. When you're tagged, answer the question on your blog, with a trackback to the original post.

2. Ask an additional million dollar question — and tag 3 bloggers with answering.

The question is:

The million dollar question is - Would you give up one of your values / morals for $1 million?

Tough question to answer. Morals? Probably not. I only have a few, but they are pretty definitive of who I am. Values? Like everybody else, I have a wide range of values, they fluctuate in time in how I prioritize them, and sometimes values change to the point where they fall off the map. Some of the values have been with me, and strong, forever, but some have been changing since the beginning of my adulthood to the point where they rate pretty low as a priority to me.

On the other hand, one of the values that has been constantly dropping has been money. I value time a LOT more than money, but I value "good times" a lot more than "hard times", and I suspect that an easy to drop value would be worth a million dollars, as long as it didn't change the core of who I am.

But I guess that really wouldn't make it a value. Values are part of how you define yourself as well as morals, and this question eventually equates to

"Is there a part I like about myself that I'm willing to lose for a million dollars?"

And I guess the answer to that is no. What I like about myself, I want to keep.

Now, I'm going to tag the following bloggers

Cannablog
PoliTits
and MCCS1977

with this question:

If you found out there was a reward for turning in a family member to the police, would you do so for $1 million?

Because you have to admit they're pretty, even when they're in your yard.

Mellow about yellow: We love those spectacular sweeps of yellow in the parks by the lake this May. Not only the daffodils, but the dandelions. After all, the only reason we call one of these Eurasian species a weed and the other a garden plant is because the dandelions annoy us by growing where we want only grass. The Chicago Park District has decided the annoyance is not worth spreading toxic chemicals and downright brags about its dandelions in a news release: "The sight of dandelions indicates grass that is healthy and safe for all park patrons to play on." Take that attitude about your own dandelions and you'll save yourself a ton of work. If you just can't stand it, hand-pull them from a small lawn.

This sounds familiar.

The line just a few hours after the first Five Guys hamburger haven opened in Monroe County on Sunday showed that patrons at the Shoppes at Stroud Center are hungry for a change of pace.

"I was thrilled," said owner Ann Negvesky after the opening. "Monroe (County) has embraced our burgers. It exceeded expectations."

Negvesky said that a demographic study indicated the Route 611 shopping center in Stroudsburg is the most feasible spot in the area. Although it is a bit tucked away from the focal point of shoppers' vision, the distinguishable red-and-white logo captured the curiosity of enough patrons to keep the line rebuilding as a coterie of employees bumped elbows providing brisk service.

Galvanized pails of peanuts were placed on the tables, and in the back of the business there were 30 sacks of potatoes and a dozen boxes of peanut oil.

"We want people to see that everything here is fresh," said Negvesky. "We pride ourselves as a cool, fun place to be. There's no frills here. What you'll expect is the best burger you ever had."

You know, the same story basically played itself last year in Mechanicsburg at the Five Guys on the Carlisle Pike. Their parking lot was full every day. But here it is, a year later, and I drive past the place almost every day around lunchtime, and usually the lot is less than half full. Monday there were four cars in the lot.

Their burgers are tasty, but this IS a premium priced fast food hamburger. And in today's economy, I wonder how well such a place can do for the long haul. You can still figure out a meal for 4 for $7 at the grocery, which is what a burger and a soft drink will set you back at Five Guys. It just seems like more people are likely to go the grocery route now than they did just a few months ago, and that's probably the way it will be for a while.

How do you prefer to print your digital photos at photo quality?

Man, that guy's annoying and ill-informed. Hopefully after this campaign, he'll never get hired for another national gig again.

Senior Clinton advisor Howard Wolfson, appearing on "Fox News Sunday," rejected the idea that the campaign was over.

He predicted victory in the next primary, on Tuesday in West Virginia, where Clinton is heavily favored.

"If Barack Obama wants Hillary Clinton out of this race, beat her. Beat her in West Virginia, beat her in Puerto Rico, beat her in Kentucky," Wolfson said, citing other upcoming contests.

Dude, he IS beating her. Look at the delegate count! There's no requirement for a total skunking of a candidate of victory in any states.

This is kinda cool, you can use this to find out who are buying ads for what keywords and at what cost. For example: Republicans. Really, ChristianCafe.com?

When is a 20% election victory in a state not a victory?

Perhaps when the victorious campaign has bragged about 40% margins. I'm not sure Terry McAuliffe is doing the Clinton campaign any favors...

MR. McAULIFFE: Has it become an avalanche today? No. Did it become an avalanche after Tuesday, when you and others were all on the air saying it was over? No. Which should make you say something. We are now coming up to West Virginia on Tuesday. The last poll had Hillary up 43 points. She's up 40 points in Kentucky.

They really didn't play the expectations game very well this week. A gigantic blowout is to be expected, and anything less than a gigantic blowout will raise as many questions about Clinton - where did her expected voters go - as Obama.

Somehow, as a Bears fan, I am raising a Green Bay Packers fan, and even more unfortunately, apparently I'm going to be destined to see this painted on his bedroom wall soon.

This is why we don't, and shouldn't, use polls for decisionmaking OVER election results.

California voters would change their February primary vote for Hillary Clinton to a vote for Barack Obama if the vote were held again, according to an exclusive poll commissioned by CBS 5.

While voters in the California Democratic Presidential Primary backed Clinton by a 10-point margin, a new SurveyUSA poll shows that if given the chance to vote again, Californians would choose Barack Obama by a 6-point margin, 49%-43%.

The poll was conducted on May 7 and 8 and has a margin of error of 4%.

One of the arguments that I find rather unconvincing is that superdelegates should somehow weigh an unofficial poll as highly as an official election/caucus. What the hell is that all about? Do we throw out the votes for any election because of a contrasting poll? Regardless of how supposedly scientific a poll may be, why is it even considered to be on a par with an official election?

And yet, the argument about electability is just that. Polls saying that one candidate does stronger than another candidate with certain segments of the population. Polls saying that one candidate does better than another against McCain.

Polls are unofficial. Elections and caucuses are official. They do not carry anything close to the same weight.

by Happy Rhodes.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

For whatever purpose or for whoever's candidacy, Lanny Davis is a poor choice to go on as a representative. He somehow manages to provide a general overtone of whining regardless of the topic he's speaking about. Add to that the atmosphere of boredom that seems to develop when he speaks, and you have yourself a talking head that can't get the job done well.

After watching this guy in the NCAA tournament in person, I think parts of this assessment is WAY OFF.

C Brook Lopez, Stanford
Stats: 19.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.1 bpg
This may seem like a no-brainer since Lopez is a lock for the lottery, but he probably would have been taken among the first 14 picks last year. Seven-footers with his size and coordination always are in high demand. The difference this time around is that the 7-foot, 260-pounder is good enough to help an NBA team immediately. He developed a couple of go-to moves in the post this past season, allowing him to score consistently when given the ball with his back to the basket. He also became a better rebounder and post defender. Look for him to contribute from Day One with the NBA team that picks him.

His height will put him in demand, but his skills just do not seem that good, and he seems very soft around the basket. In a league which had 81 players on rosters last year of 6'11", he's going to have to play guys his height now.

On the other hand, how many of those 81 in the NBA are stars? Hint: many sit on the bench. Brook will have buddies with him watching the game.

Oh, and btw, how many players in the Pac-10 were 6'11' or taller last year?

12 plus the 2 that were on Stanford. 2 on USC, and Lopez played mediocre against them. He seems to know how to take advantage of his height when that advantage is there for him, but that's about all.

A passenger train was quarantined today after one person died and some people had to be hospitalized with flu-like symptoms in Ontario, CBC reports on its website.

Canwest News Service reports that emergency crews have sealed off two of the cars.

"The whole place is being overrun with ambulances and police cars, and we've got helicopters," Deborah DesRochers, chairwoman of Foleyet, tells the Canadian broadcaster. "They've got the train quarantined. They're trying to isolate what it is."

CBC says the train was carrying about 290 passengers and crew members.

Canwest says 10 people are being treated at a hospital. The rest are being kept on the train, the news service says.

"No one is going onto the train without full protective gear,'' police spokeswoman Sgt. Laura Nichols tells CTV.

The Canadian, as this train is known, was headed from Vancouver to Toronto.

Update at 1:10 p.m. ET: Canadian Press says a woman in her 60s died after boarding the train in Jasper, Alberta. "We don't know if the element is viral or bacterial or a case of food poisoning," provincial police Constable Marc Depatie tells the news service.

He tells CTV that seven passengers from the Jasper area are sick.

So why isn't it the law? Why should we let those with the "need for speed" help the terrorists?

Somebody just left it there.

Photo from Kindred Wolf.

For whatever reason the official site isn't working, but it's coming up in Camp Hill, May 16 - 18.

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Greek Festival in Camp Hill PA May 16 to 18 2008

Start Date/Time Friday, May 16, 2008 11:00 AM

End Date/Time Sunday, May 18, 2008 4:00 PM

The Greek Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church will take place from May 16 to May 18 2008 on the church grounds of the church located at 1000 Yverdon Drive, Camp Hill, PA.

Let's see if I understand this. Sender Score Certified offers a free email whitelist service to ISPs. But emailers have to pay them if they want to be certified sender.

If this is truly how it works, then ISPs shouldn't use this service from Return Path. Entities shouldn't have to pay to be on an accepted list for email delivery unless ALL entities pay.

George Stephanopoulos thinks Hillary Clinton is still in the race because she's maneuvering for the VP slot.

Could be, who knows. I think if it were offered to Clinton, she'd HAVE to take it. Otherwise, she's giving somebody else viability for the next Democratic Party Presidential Primary that has no incumbent.

And she could see her future possibilities even further hindered if Obama selected another woman as a running mate.

I suspect we'll see Obama start up the VP possibility tour soon. Those kinds of stories not only provide new interest in him, but take away news space that Hillary Clinton desperately wants.

I stumbled onto this movie clip on YouTube. I don't even remember such a movie being made, but this is clearly an alltime painful performance.

Hillary Clinton:

Hillary Rodham Clinton vowed Wednesday to continue her quest for the Democratic nomination, arguing she would be the stronger nominee because she appeals to a wider coalition of voters — including whites who have not supported Barack Obama in recent contests.

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview with USA TODAY. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

"There's a pattern emerging here," she said.

Ed Koch:

As Democrats coalesce around Sen. Barack Obama, one of Hillary Clinton's must outspoken supporters is not mincing words: the party is walking needlessly and unaware into a general election buzzsaw.

"I believe Obama probably will win [the Democratic nomination], although in politics you never ever can count anybody out," said former New York Mayor Ed Koch. "I think Hillary is doing a magnificent job and is a great candidate and if anybody can pull it out, she can. But my honest opinion is, it probably won't happen. And that he will be the candidate and that he will lose."

Koch's argument, while never voiced in public by Clinton, is thought to reflect the opinion of the senator and her key aides.

Remember George Bush's theme of 2004 - vote for me or the terrorists win? Clinton's gone to the fear tactic: vote for me or the Republicans win.

Do we really want a President that wants to rule by fear for another 4 years? Isn't that a reason why we're opposed to McCain and the Republicans?

I guess there's a possibility that Hillary thinks this is helping Obama. Since so many Republicans despise the Clintons, perhaps some are so reactionary that they will do anything to prove Hillary Clinton wrong. So if her campaign says that Obama can't win - maybe those Republicans will vote for Obama in response!

Who knows what that campaign is thinking anymore.

BTW, Hillary is threatening to do some severe damage in any future election in which she might want to run for the Democratic Party nomination for President again. She's getting closer to the "if not now, not ever" line of campaigning, which seems politically unwise. And that's pretty much how I see Hillary Clinton - as not wise enough politically to achieve her political goals. And that's not good enough for President this time around, either.

This would be even funnier except that it could practically be a transcript.

Except for the fact that I think Howard Fineman plays along a lot more than that...

The American Military Branches.

The few, the strong, the brave and some convicted felons could well describe today’s Marine Corps. In the Army, more convicted felons can be all they can be too, as all branches of the military relaxed their standards allowing 861 felons to join the ranks in 2007, according to data released April 21 by the Congressional Oversight Committee.

From arsonists, to burglars to car thieves, each branch of the military saw a rise in waivers extended to convicted felons in an effort to meet the needs of war.

...

The lowering of standards by the military is no surprise to Morten G. Ender, Ph.d., sociology program director in the Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

“In the last war in Viet Nam, there was a draft. This is an historical pattern. This is nothing new,” he told The Final Call. “What’s new is the all volunteer force. The military now has to rely on the corporate model. If people don’t come to your business you have to compromise your standards or lower your expectations.”

“This is no surprise. An all volunteer military coupled with war and an unpopular war at that, no surprise this is happening,” he said.

This Saturday, May 10, 2008 call Countrywide to discuss your mortgage options.

#####, your estimated home equity may be as much as $##,###. Call now for a Special Online Discount.²

Exciting news! Call 1-800-514-0292 or apply online. You may be entitled to refinance, possibly lock in a lower interest rate, and receive up to $41,041 cash from your home's estimated available equity, through our exclusive Fastrack Loan Program – available to you as a select, qualified Countrywide Home Loans customer.

In addition, you may qualify for a Special Online Discount2 on your next home refinance mortgage.

We already have a good rate. We are already a Countrywide client. They keep sending this kind of stuff, by both email and regular mail, to try to entice us to borrow more.

It's getting to the point where, if there was no cost to it, we'd move our loan because Countrywide is becoming very, very annoying.

She can sing. She can act. She's got the best rack in Hollywood.

And not in that order.

K-Lo shares an email from one of The Corner's dim-witted readers.

I sometimes wonder how the really evil Corner "pundits" put up with the purely stupid ones.

Update: The post is gone. Apparently somebody decided speculative commentary on Madonna and Hillary's sex lives was too stupid even for The Corner.

I don't know. I'm confused about what to blog about anymore.

Image by Chris & Ariella

Are meant to be broken. Good read.

I used to think Steve Kerr was a smart basketball guy, but now I'm REALLY wondering.

These kinds of people are making the Founders of the Republic roll in their grave.

...but Jim Adams, 36, voted for Hillary Clinton to keep the race going beyond Indiana. He's a McCain backer and enjoys watching the Democrats fight.

"In the end, I think McCain is going to win," Adams said, and then referred to controversial statements by Bill Clinton and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's pastor. "Bill can't keep his mouth shut, and the reverend can't keep his mouth shut."

Playing games with the ballot is where these Republicans are these days? People complain about burning flags, but this is desecration of the ballot - where are those same "patriots" on this issue? Is voting just a game now? People fought in wars and died for the right for Jim Adams to sit and laugh and go hoo-hah about his funny little voting trick? These Republicans don't stand for anything other than gamesmanship. They're not patriotic - they're players.

Isabella Rossellini has bug sex.

About Muncie, the city of my birth and where I last lived in Indiana before our family moved to California. Muncie is smaller now than it was when we moved in 1971.

We used to live on Imperial Lane, which is in the Southeast part of town, and according to the article, the bleaker part of town. Just makes me sad. I haven't seen Muncie since the late 1970s, and one of these days I still want to bore our kids with a brief tour of where I spent much of my elementary school years, but I'm not quite sure what to expect.

I've been on a regular routine of having one of Bob's Bagels "everything" bagels with cream cheese in the morning with a cup of coffee.

I have to agree with this review of the bagels:

I see others listed as the best bagels in PA, which is hard to substantiate. I can say Bob's Bagels is a small shop with the owner in the kitchen. It is easy to tell that the man cares about the product he produces and the customers who buy them. The ultimate testimony to any such establishment is the demand for the product, and if you see this little shop on any given morning, you have to know these bagels are good!

But the real point I wanted to make is that even a small bagel shop ought to have a web site, even if it's a low-priced one page thing that doesn't look much different than this, except have their own domain. You can't depend on Yahoo or anyone else to get your basic facts straight, and you never know who will be looking for you online. In fact, I'll try to point out how much traffic I get searching for "Bob's Bagels in Lemoyne" in the near future as I see results.

What's wrong with it?

Unfortunately, news that most people believe gasoline will be $5 a gallon before the end of the year may well guarantee that it will. If oil companies see that the market expects it, don't you expect they will try?

I noticed today that in the 2007 version of Microsoft Access, they've changed the prompt from "Sort Ascending" to "Sort from Smallest Value to Largest Value". No Duh!

Hint: Harrisburg/West Shore

From the April 2008 Non-Manufacturing ISM Report On Business:

COMMODITIES REPORTED UP / DOWN IN PRICE, and IN SHORT SUPPLY

Commodities Up in Price

Airfares (2); Alcohol; Beef (2); Car Rentals; Carbon Steel Pipe (2); Carbon Steel Plate; Coffee; Copier Paper (3); Copper Wire (2); Corn; Diesel Fuel (7); Eggs (2); Flour; Foodstuffs; Fresh Dairy; Fuel (15); Gasoline (8); Hay; Hotel Costs; IT Support; Milk; Natural Gas; Oil (2); Paper (6); Paper Products (2); Petroleum (2); Plastic Bags (2); Printed Forms and Papers; Shipping Costs (2); Steel (2); Wheat; and Wood Shavings.

Commodities Down in Price

Cheese is the only commodity reported down in price.

I claim to believe that Obama is a better candidate but spend the vast majority of my blog posts blasting Obama and promoting Hillary Clinton. Can you guess who I am?

WHERE ARE THE POLLS ABOUT REPUBLICAN DEFECTIONS IN THE FALL?

I mean, can the pollsters only cover one side of the street these days?

Democrats Face Possible Defections in the Fall Election

We're not going to be represented by an active player in MLB:

Julio Franco is finally calling it a career.

The 49-year-old has retired from baseball, according to a report on The Seattle Times’ web site Saturday.

Franco, who played 23 major league seasons, reportedly made the announcement Wednesday to his Mexican League team - the Quintana Roo Tigers.

“It was the hardest decision in my life,” Franco said in an interview published Saturday by Mexican sports daily Record. “I always said I would be the first one to know the exact moment.

“I think the numbers speak for themselves, the production speaks and this is the right moment. I understand that my time has passed and the great men and athletes know when to say enough.”

Franco last played in the majors in 2007, when he participated in a combined 55 games between the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves.

He batted .222 with 16 RBI, creating headlines with his lone home run - a blast that made him the oldest player to hit a homer in the majors.

The Dominican, who played with eight teams during his career in the majors, retires with a .298 average, 2,586 hits and 173 home runs.

Cedric Benson is probably down to a lifeline with playing for the Bears.

Benson was held at Travis County Jail from about 11:30 p.m. Saturday to 3:30 a.m. Sunday. He was released on $14,500 bond.

His future with the team has been uncertain since he fractured his left leg in November, requiring a plate and screws to be inserted to stabilize the leg and ankle. The Bears addressed the position by drafting Tulane's Matt Forte in the second round last month.

"Very disappointed,'' coach Lovie Smith said about Benson on Sunday at Halas Hall. "You try to wait and get as much information before you make a lot of comments about it, and that's what I am going to do. We're always disappointed when we have someone that we're talking about being in trouble with the law.''

Victor Krummenacher.

In my humble opinion, patio furniture prices are ridiculous. I'd like someplace to sit outside, but damn if I'm spending over $1000 for a set. When people are over, they'll just have to enjoy these seats.

I wonder how much money the Democratic Party Presidential primary campaign contributed to the economy of Guam?

It sucks. It blocks way too much legitimate email, and you can argue that it either does this because of Comcast's lack of interest in delivering legitimate email to their subscribers, or their incompetency. It's pretty amazing to me that a free email service - Gmail - can do spamfiltering right without a direct subscriber profit line, and Comcast can't get their heads out of their asses about it and they charge for it.

If you're a Comcast subscriber, and you use Comcast to receive email, you should ask them how they guarantee that you are receiving legitimate email - from email lists you belong to, from forms that are supposed to process email to you, etc. Ask them. I suspect you'll find the answer less than reassuring.

I watch horse races constantly and I think this is the first breakdown I've seen since Barbaro. I don't know if that's chance or the better horses are more at risk. Big Brown is a great horse but that was a very sad ending.

Just got back from placing my bets at the York OTB. Mechanicsburg is halfway between there and the track up in Grantville. I figured York would be less of a zoo. But if a meteorite hits that joint today, it will take out most of the gambling degenerates in York County.

Tough to handicap a twenty horse field since the Kentucky Derby is about the only twenty horse field you'll ever see. Big Brown is the class of the race but sharpie wisdom says that he can't overcome his horrible 20th post. The most logical play is to look for inside speed to get ahead of the stampede and go wire-to-wire. Tale of Ekati (#2) and Eight Belles (#5) are the horses that fit that profile best. But a mile and a quarter is long way to go wire to wire in a field of this quality.

Here's what I'm holding in case you need something to root for...

5 6 10 exacta box
10 12 20 exacta box
2 5 17 exacta box
13 20 exacta box

All positive vibes appreciated! If I win, I'll buy you a drink next time I see you.

Hadn't heard of it before, but apparently wallyball is infecting everything now...

There's a new sport known as Arena Softball that is catching on quickly, and as a recent feature story in the Sacramento Business Journal shows, it is becoming a national phenomenon. Founded by Greg Joseph with the help of local business developer Chris Vrame in 2003, the indoor sport has grown immensely in only five years.

The game is played on a regulation softball diamond, and players use all of the softball skills they're used to. The twist is a tight spring loaded net that encloses the entire softball field, so every hit is in play. Although Joseph found it was difficult at first to turn a profit with a new game, Arena Softball is now profitable and has gained interest internationally. The softball-inspired game is in its second season in the Minneapolis suburb of Eagan, Minnesota, and there are advanced plans to take Arena Softball to Hartford, Connecticut and Spokane, Washington. The game even has someone from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates interested.

Arena Softball is still the biggest hit back in Roseville, CA, a city near Sacramento, where it began. According to the Sacramento Business Journal article, there are approximately 800 people coming to the indoor softball complex every day, with 106 different teams playing. Joseph aims to open a second complex in the Pacific Northwest, and a third in Elk Grove or Natomas, California.

So this is how Kessler Boulevard was named such in Indianapolis. I went to first grade at Crooked Creek Elementary School which is on the Boulevard -it was the only year I ever had to take a bus to school in my entire life.

So when will car dealerships begin to refuse taking SUVs as trade-ins because they just can't move them anymore?

They won the regional 24 tournament today. And it was pretty cool to see 17 schools support their math student teams that were enjoying this game so much.

Nick Tran reads and writes as well as any other fourth-grader, but he communicates best in a language without letters, one he visualizes.

He found a club of like-minded students at Sporting Hill Elementary School, in the Cumberland Valley School District, and a teacher who stays with them after school so they can connect.

Student conversation is rapid-fire and goes like this: "Three times eight is 24, five minus four equals one, and one times 24 equals 24!"

The Sporting Hill students "speak" in numbers as teacher Joan Gillis coaches them through rounds of a game called Math 24.

They're proving fluent.

Nick, classmate Braydon Kylor and fifth-graders Rachel Kang, Cece Kessler and Matthew Heidelbaugh last month outscored Math 24 teams from six other district elementary schools.

Today, they're matching wits with students across the midstate in the 24 Challenge Math tournament hosted by Cumberland Valley.

Young mathematicians in attendance are from Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Lower Dauphin and Steelton-Highspire school districts and Holy Name of Jesus and Saint Joan of Arc Catholic schools.

They are competing to be the fastest to add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers on four corners of the blue Math 24 game cards to reach a total of 24. Students who reach a solution first must tap a card, then cite every step of their answer within 15 seconds.

Players must have rules of number operations committed to memory to be competitive. Many also memorize exact formula sequences to solve dozens of cards. But that isn't necessary to play well.

"I can't memorize things, so I have to [solve] each one," said Rachel, who is Sporting Hill's individual champ.

In last week's practice, it was clear she and her teammates enjoy the mental math. Laughs and high-fives follow the verbal equations that rush between them.

"In language arts, you have to read; but in math, you just do problems," Nick said.

This would be grossly disappointing on many levels, but primarily as a gauge of how well Democrats consider consequences.

Sometimes you can see the "ant" in people. Today is garage sale day in our neighborhood, and lots of neighbors have stuff out that they're trying to sell. Dozens of SUVs, trucks, vans going by all the time, checking out the merchandise.

If you open your garage door, and then go in the house to get some stuff to put in your car, you're likely to see a line of people walking up your driveway. At least I did.

Here's one possible solution to the lawn mowing problem!

HARRISBURG - State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's remarks that the General Assembly would enact slavery if given a chance were met yesterday with anger and disbelief, even as the Philadelphia Democrat sought to distance himself from his own words.

Fumo made the slavery comments during an Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday in Harrisburg on a bill that would define marriage as between a man and a woman - a measure Fumo opposes.

"What you are advocating here is that we take away the rights of a minority. And I don't think that's right," Fumo told Gilbert Coleman Jr., senior pastor of Freedom Christian Bible Fellowship in Philadelphia, during the hearing. ". . . If we introduced a bill on slavery, it might pass. That doesn't make it right."

"I doubt that, sir," responded Coleman, an African American who testified in support of the measure.

"Oh, don't bet on it in this General Assembly," shot back Fumo, who is preparing to leave the legislature after 30 years. "I know some people up here, especially on a secret ballot, it would be almost unanimous."

Jaw-droppingly over-the-top rhetoric aside, Vince has got the basics right. The government has no business legislating who can get married or discriminating based on sexual preference. Even in Pennsyltucky.

We thought our daughter might need a new bat for softball - she's had the same one for a year, she's been growing, and we thought a little more weight on the bat might help her. Glad I read this, it changed my mind.

AOL put out a list of the top 50 comedies of all time. I took a look at it, I don't have any major gripes, except these shows I don't think belong AT ALL in this listing of the top 50 TV Comedies of All Time...

7. The Cosby Show
43. The Golden Girls
49. Newhart

Some of the other comedies I haven't seen, so I don't feel knowledgable enough to have a preference, but these three shows I have seen enough of, and frankly, I don't get it. I would have thrown Maude in the bunch too, but I didn't want to seem like a Bea Arthur hater, plus Adrienne Barbeau, although not funny, was why a lot of males watched anyways.

I won't quibble about order, either, since it's so subjective anyways.

And now for some love for three TV comedies that weren't listed that should have been:

Leave it to Beaver
The Andy Griffith Show
Bewitched
The Tracey Ullman Show - if for no other reason, because it lead to The Simpsons.

Okay, I take it back. Maude goes off the list.

I know - Leave it to Beaver? Like I said, it's subjective, and there was a time my brothers and friends watched the syndicated reruns of that show. And laughed. That Eddie Haskell, he was a character.

Seems like it could be a decent organization, but they really should NOT be spamming my fax number. Counterproductive - guaranteed to not get my donation.

Mudcrutch. Turn it up.

This amazes me!

Submerged in a water-filled sphere on the stage of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" during a live broadcast, Blaine held his breath for 17 minutes and 4 seconds. That bested the previous record of 16 minutes and 32 seconds, set Feb. 10 by Switzerland's Peter Colat, according to Guinness World Records.

Blaine had a smile on his face soon after his head rose above the water and he took several deep gulps of air. Within about a minute, he was able to hold a microphone and tell Winfrey, "I feel great," later adding that breaking the record was a fulfillment of "a lifelong dream."

Before his attempt, Blaine was allowed to inhale pure oxygen for up to 30 minutes, although he inhaled for only 23 minutes. A Guinness World Records judge was on hand to certify the feat.

In May 2006 as a finale to a week spent in an aquarium with an air mask at New York's Lincoln Center, Blaine tried to set another type of breath-holding record. Without breathing pure oxygen beforehand, he tried to break the existing record of 8 minutes, 58 seconds for an attempt of that type.

But he had to be rescued shortly after 7 minutes when he was unconscious and having convulsions.

When I was a bored kid in grade school, I sometimes amused myself by checking how long I could hold my breath. No brain damage jokes, please. My teachers probably wondered why I was gasping for air. Anything over two minutes was exceptional.

OK, let me give it a try now ......... ninety seconds and I got a bit of headache from it. No convulsions though. I could have done better if I had inhaled some pure oxygen first!

So how long can you hold you breath for?

This is when it hits home.

That leaves the question, though, of whether the proposal will score points on the campaign trail. In Kokomo, Ind., last week, Kathy Spier said the rising cost of gas is to blame for the 50 percent drop-off in sales at her three exotic lingerie stores. "They don't have extra money to spend on frivolous things," she said.

It seems to me that there may be a convergence in the economy and technology that will lead to a boom in lawnmower sales.

I live in a comfortable, 40 year old neighborhood. When we moved here in 1995, it seemed like everyone mowed their own lawn. Today I am in the distinct minority as a lawnmowing homeowner. Everyone seems to be hiring services to mow their lawns now.

There are only a few reasons why I could see considering hiring such a service, but then again, I kind of like mowing the lawn. One reason would be health - your physical condition prevents you from mowing - and I guess there's no way around that. The other primary reason would be lack of time.

Mowing the lawn in our neighborhood takes an hour. Is an hour so hard to find?

Eventually, people have to look at cost, also, and that's where saving that hour could find itself on the other side of the ledger in today's economy. With everything going up in cost, in some cases quite rapidly, people will cut back on luxuries, and for many, a grassmowing service is a luxury. And so it will be time for them to return to the turf, decked in glory, ready to smite the overreaching grass blades that dare rough up their view.

For many, however, a new lawnmower will be in order - an investment in the process. They've gone many years without mowing, and the old mower was one of the reasons they went to a service - keeping it running, keeping it gassed, keeping it cutting efficiently - was a battle they were losing before, back in the day.

So what to buy? The pressure is growing - go green! Recharge with solar - no more gas to buy! Look for more states to provide incentives for residents to buy such items in the first place. Electric mowers sales have grown 25 percent in the last few years, according to one manufacturer. Another pegs the growth at sixfold during the last decade.

I suspect that the "green lawnmower revolution" will go electric, and not to this style of machine, regardless of the spokesmodels. But if not this summer, then next summer I suspect the green lawnmower boom will be on in earnest, in my neighborhood and thousands of others around the country. And lawnmowing services will not be happy about it the business result.

So is this what we look like?

Photo by funny_good_jokes

I took Memeorandum off the blogroll today.

Why? It seems to me that it is servicing more of the news media than the blogger community at this point, and it serving as a focus point for the swarming of bloggers over the same stories. And the news stories just seem to keep getting dumber. I find it a very depressing place to go, and I figure I'll reduce my own visits to the site if I take it off the blogroll. I don't figure it will impact anyone else - in all my log analysis review, I don't think I've ever seen anyone go from this site to memeorandum. But I've got to quit reading the stories that bloggers are swarming to - much of it is a sad commentary, on both the news media and the lack of independence that bloggers seem to be showing in their choice of blog subjects.