OK, you tell me: which of the following scenarios is closest to reality?

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Lachlan has an entry about last names – specifically, taking another person’s last name upon marriage. Her (possible) solution mirrors what I said a few years ago (and last spring). Great minds, Lach, great minds.

The Better Living Wife absolutely loves the show “Airline” on A&E, and I’ve caught some of the episodes. Entertaining, to some degree, and very educational. I’ve learned that it is nothing short of miraculous that anybody ever successfully flies from Point A to Point B on a commercial plane. The levels of interaction – the interdependence – the schedules – the mechanics – the personalities – the laws and regulations – the costs – the chaos – it’s amazing that the airline system works, and yet it usually does. Of course, the TV show highlights the things that DON’T work, which is what makes it entertaining. What strikes me the most, though, after seeing perhaps a half-dozen episodes, is how many people attempt to fly while they are intoxicated. Unbelievable. The other aspect that dumbfounds me is noticing how many travelers don’t bother to wear clothing when they fly. Well, they wear clothing, but certainly nothing that I would be comfortable wearing. Flip-flops, shorts, and a halter-top? Aye carumba.

I’m still enjoying WordPress…it’s just so darned easy to use that I wonder why I didn’t switch from MT long ago. The latest WP thingie (plugin) on my site is the mobile version; you can d/l and learn about it here. Talk about simple…just transfer three files, and you’re done. I installed it for the Big Sky Blog, too. Wheeee!

I’m a big fan of Bobby Darin. Would it surprise you to know that I won’t be seeing the movie “Beyond The Sea,” then? The primary reason is that I don’t need to see it. Anything that I want to know about Bobby Darin can be found online. And if I want to hear Bobby Darin sing, then I just need to toss in a CD or fire up an MP3 player. If I want to see one of his performances, I can watch one of his movies.

So, what possible value can there be in seeing the movie? Ah, you say, but what about Kevin Spacey’s performance? Don’t I want to see how closely he can mirror Darin’s voice, mannerisms, and appearance? Uh, frankly, no I don’t. Spacey has always been rather off-putting to me; for some reason, he seems to ooze sleazy contempt in every role that I’ve seen him in. He’s a relatively talented impersonator, but mimicry is just a bit to play on Saturday Night Live and in nightclubs – it doesn’t automatically translate into a 2-hour movie. And the fact that he has wanted to play this role and make this movie for years seems almost creepy – as if the only thing he cares about is wowing the public with his impersonation of Bobby Darin, as opposed to telling the story of Bobby Darin.

Oh - and I heard Spacey’s version of “Artificial Flowers” on the radio the other day, and it was a pale shadow of Darin’s recording.

Today would have been the 89th birthday of Francis Albert Sinatra: the Chairman of The Board, Ol’ Blue Eyes, The Voice. Some of my favorite Sinatra moments: probably “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” but “New York, New York” is simply amazing, too – it epitomizes Frank conquering NYC, and by extension, the world. And I’ve always enjoyed “The Tender Trap” - when he hits that “…just a dot ooooooon the map” section, it’s simply perfect. And of course, for when you’re feeling wistful, absolutely nothing can top ” One For My Baby.” And for my favorite movie, it’s either “On The Town” or “Guys & Dolls.” So what’s your favorite Sinatra song? Favorite movie?
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Two of my favorite holiday songs: “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses, and “Happy Holidays” by Andy Williams. The first one I like because of the bouncy, sing-song nature of the music, and of course the tale off humorous woe that ends happily. The Andy Williams song is great because his voice is just *perfect* for that tune, and it’s just a rockin’ happy song, especially the “…coming down the chimney!” part. In other holiday news, please go read Sara’s list of rules for enjoying this merry season; all I can say is “Right on, Sara!”

Imagine my surprise upon receiving an e-mail today from John Perry Barlow. In it, he asks why I referred to him as an “idiot” over in a lengthy MeFi thread about Barlow’s arrest while attempting to carry illegal drugs onto an airplane. So, given that he took the time to ask me (politely) why I called him an idiot, I replied…
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Curious: how many of you have heard of – or actually read – the “Message To Garcia” story? I never even heard of it until five years ago, when a senior co-worker asked me to find a copy of it online. Apparently, it was quite popular at one time…but except for that co-worker mentioning it to me that one time, I have never seen it referenced anywhere, in any context, at any time.

Found over at Me/Myself/I:
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So now there’s a device that will allow you to “block” Fox News Channel from being viewed on your TV. Tell you what – I will purchase one of these devices if - and only if - it can be programmed to block MTV and any other music-video channel. Music-videos are *evil*, I tell ya. Music is for LISTENING TO, not watching.

Discuss.
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Well, this is certainly cool: via Adam, I found Neat Net Tricks. Lots of tips, links to great tools, and other web-centric goodies. For instance, it was at NNT that I discovered that MS offers some really great (and free!) pictures and clipart, ready for downloading and use. Right now I’m perusing the Holidays clips and the Winter clips. Hey, since we haven’t had any real snow yet, then I’ll have to settle for virtual snow for now.

I like using Bloglines, and it appears that many of you do, too. But I’m puzzled: since I switched from Movable Type to WordPress, my site doesn’t update in BlogLines, which means that people who use BlogLines to scan my site think that I have either (a) gone to my final reward, (b) been banned from blogging by the Better Living Wife, or © been abducted by aliens. So - any ideas how to fix the BlogLines feed for my site?

A new addition to my blogroll is JD Whitlock, who wears the exact same type of uniform to work that I do (even the same type of badge). So he gets +10 Cool Points right off the bat. However, he gets -5 Cool Points for not having Comments on his site. On the other hand, he’s got a nifty picture that sums up my attitude about exercise.

I would like to apologize for the previous entry. I am very sorry and did not mean to offend any horses or people who love horses.

Can you spot the difference between Sarah Jessica Parker and a horse?

:

The first radio station that I identified with - that I felt was “mine” - was KMET, 94.7 FM, in Los Angeles. I lived about 90 miles away in the Mojave Desert, and at the age of 14, I was really getting into rock music (The Doors, Rush, etc), and in the LA listening area back in the early ’80s, you had two choices: KMET and arch-rival KLOS (95.5). I preferred KMET; I have very fuzzy memories of some of the names of the DJs/personalities: “The Burner” Mary Turner, Jeff Gonzer (of “Gonzer’s Grill"), Jim Ladd, and a few others. I distinctly recall hearing “Valley Girl” when it premiered on KMET, and the DJ played it three or four times in about two hours. I never understood the King Biscuit thingie, and Dr Demento was hit-or-miss, but what did I know back then?

So anyway…thinking about KMET the other day is what prompted the earlier post about “Hump Day,” because KMET had “titles” for each day of the workweek. If memory serves, it went like this:

Margarita Monday
Titillating Tuesday
Hump Wednesday
Champagne “Payday” Thursday
Finally A Friday

And that was my first Radio Love. There have been others since: KSOL, 98.9, in the SF Bay Area, circa 1994-97, which specialized in R&B/Old School; a college station in Oklahoma called “The Spy” back in 1997/98; another college station in Spokane (1982/83) with hosts Jeff & Julie; and my current favorite here in Great Falls, the nationwide “Music Of Your Life” format on 1310-KEIN am.

Welcome to Wednesday. For most people, it’s the middle of the workweek, hence the term “hump day.” I’ve never cared for that phrase, though, so let’s try to come up with something better, shall we? You go first.

Right now it’s 19 degrees, and we’ve got “light freezing fog.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen those three words used together. Pretty cool, but it still ain’t snowing. Dammit.

The Wild Kingdom is full of cute stuff, fame, danger, WTF, and humor…browse around this site for a while - there’s bound to be something that tickles your whimsy or drops your jaw.

See? This is what I love…cute little animals, all getting along, best friends forever. Am I sappy, or what?

Cute little chicks, a rabbit, a kitten, and bacon a piglet. Awwwwww!

We often watch “What Not To Wear” on TLC – the Better Living Wife just loves fashion TV, and WNTW is probably her favorite. Me, I’m pretty much just there to mock and drop my jaw at some of the prices. $300 for a shirt? $250 for a pair of pants? HAH! Nope - I’m a very simple dresser, and in fact it’s only become clear during the last two years. You see, it was about two years ago that I discovered the wonder of Old Navy. I’d been into one or two stores before that, but always as a parent with a child or two in tow ("two in tow!” - heh). And I had always loved the wonderful, cheery commercials – with the big-glasses lady (Carrie Donovan, RIP), and Magic the Dog, and the occasional celebrity that I couldn’t name, but who I appreciated for participating in the whimsical commercials. The funky music, the cheery colors, the upbeat attitudes (denim molecules!) – all of these things made me happy. And inside the store it’s just like in the commercials! And marketing aside, the clothes are wonderfully simple. Nothing highfalutin’ about the shirts, nothing too trendy about the pants. Just basic clothing at good prices, sold in a happy, colorful way. What’s not to love?!

When I make spaghetti, I take handfuls of it and break all of the pieces into thirds, and then drop it into the pot of water; that way, when we eat it, it’s not long and loopy and you don’t have to spin it around your fork and drop it on your lap and stuff. Am I crazy? Do any of you do this, or am I just weird?

In case you’re wondering which Clint Eastwood movies will air during the month of December, just check out the TV Now site – it will tell you which movies, what times, and what channels. For example, “For A Few Dollars More” will air on December 11th at 10:00 pm on American Movie Classics, and also at 5:15 pm on December 16. Of course, if you want to schedule your movie viewing around pure crap, you can do that, too.

First things first: dammit, I’m not a finalist! But I very much appreciate the nomination, Babs - truly. OK, now on to a nitpick and some recommendations.

In order for me to vote for a blog, the blog must meet two requirements: it must be updated often - preferably every day. And it must - MUST - have a commenting feature. I know that some people disagree with that last point, but without comments, then it’s just a webpage. That’s fine, but don’t call it a “blog.” So for example, while I enjoy Instapundit, and can’t imagine the ‘Sphere without it, I can’t consider it to be a “true” weblog. OK – off my soapbox.

In terms of voting, well, Lachlan deserves to win her category (and at least one other, but she’s only in the LBGT category, dammit). And regarding Velociman – hey, if you don’t think that he’s the sickest SOB funniest blogger of all, then you’re not firing on all cylinders – but you still should vote for him, because a last-place (or even 2nd-to-last) showing is just too dismal a fate for one as gifted as he. And in the “2500-3500” category, you’ve gotta give it up for Jess - never fails to entertain, and his design is just nifty.

So there’s a few recommendations – more later, perhaps, but in the meantime be sure to pull the lever for the candidates that I have endorsed above; you can pull said lever once every 24 hours, so stuff that ballot box!

Well, as noted by KarbonKountyMoos in the comment below, the spammers have glommed onto my newly-revised site. Bastards. So I’m looking into some of the spam-killing options available out there, but haven’t decided on which one to implement yet. But in the meantime, I very much appreciate the “mass delete” feature in WordPress; I just deleted about 30 spams in about 20 seconds with no problems. I must admit, WordPress is certainly working out well for me – I’m enjoying the simplicity and not having to rebuild anything.

Caught a screenshot the other day as one of my favorite movies aired…surely you remember the name of this character? And of course you remember why he was in prison, right?
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Several people have commented on the cute graphics in the “forecast” picture below – they are courtesy of Weather Underground (www.wunderground.com). I like it – better than Weather.com, and cuter graphics to boot! Just go there, type in your ZIP code, and presto! You can stick a Weather Underground banner on your site customized for your area, too, as I have done on my Montana page. Nifty!

I love the internet. Er, the intarweb. Uh, the internets. You know, that web thingie. In fact, if I didn’t love it so much, you wouldn’t be reading this right now. Bloggers, as a whole, spend a portion of their life entirely online. This is what I’m talkin’ about.

In some ways, her so-called digital life has become more real to her than reality. She checks friends’ blogs, scans their comments, follows the same links, mulls the same information, shares her thoughts via discussion threads or by posting comments on napsterization.org – and it’s all hyperlinked, searchable and browseable, depending on the tools available. Although Hodder may be physically disconnected from her friends, they’re never really far away, represented by digital word sculptures they make together.

The bad news: I wasn’t able to attend the group PT (physical fitness) sessions on Monday at 5:00 pm or Wednesday at noon, so I have to attend the 6:00 am session tomorrow (Friday morning)…which means that my morning routine will be disrupted and I won’t be able to watch “The Green Hornet” at 5:30 am. Grrrr.

The good news: check out this weather forecast – we’ve got (a) very cold temps certain, and (b) snow very likely.

Color me happy! With almost no snow this season yet, I’m practically *begging* for some of that fluffy white goodness!

The ten words looked up most often at M-W.com in 2004:

1. blog
2. incumbent
3. electoral
4. insurgent
5. hurricane
6. cicada
7. peloton
8. partisan
9. sovereignty
10. defenestration

The challenge, of course, is to compose a relatively coherent paragraph using all ten words. Any takers?

Yeah, I was a little misty-eyed when KenJen’s reign came to an end yesterday. To trivia buffs like me, he is nothing short of a deity. Thanks for the inspiration, Ken!

My verdict on the Tony Roma restaurant (from last night): excellent! Decor, service, and most important, the food. We’ll be back.

Everyone has a favorite breakfast cereal (mine is Fruity Pebbles!). And everyone enjoys dining out. Now you can combine the two at a Cereal Restaurant – how cool is that?! (via MeFi)

Which reminds me: I heard on NPR yesterday that the word “cereal” is derived from the name of the ancient goddess “Ceres.” Huh. I had no idea.

So - how is everyone doing on this first day of December? Are you stunned that December has arrived already? Looking forward to the month and the holiday season?

Fox News Channel – MSNBC – Drudge – Slate – Command Post – Lost Remote

Mandarin Design: great resource for simple tips
Scripty Goddess: blogging tips & tricks
TechDirt:
Neat Net Tricks
BlogLines: great service for aggregating your links
TTLB Ecosystem: news, rankings, cool stuff
DayPop: Top Forty in the ‘Sphere

The ever-sweet Margi posted a Top Ten list the other day that was great: “Top Ten Signs You’ve Eaten Too Much On Thanksgiving.” In particular, item #7 cracked me up. Reading it the other day, I almost laughed out loud. But then…#7 nearly killed me. You see, last night the Better Living Family dined at the newly-opened Tony Roma’s. As we were enjoying the burgers, ribs, and such, Margi’s Top Ten List popped into my head. I attempted to recite item #7 to my wife & daughters , but as I began to speak the words, “…laughing up pie…", I burst into near-hysterical laughter – uncontrollable – to the point that they were laughing at ME…and each time I caught my breath and tried to utter those words, I would collapse into even more severe laughter. Several other patrons began looking at me (us), wondering WTF was going on. I could feel my face turning several shades of red & purple as I gasped for air, and of course each time that I tried to stop laughing, I only laughed harder.

Finally, after about literally five minutes of non-stop, side-busting laughter on my part, I excused myself from the table, and stumble-walked to the front desk area and borrowed a pen & slip of paper to write out the
words, “#7: Right this minute you are laughing up pie on the carpet.” Well, by this time I had finally stopped laughing and explained to the two hostesses what was going on, and they looked at me – well, frankly, as if I was insane. I took the note back to the Better Living Wife and kids, and my 12 yr old roared with laughter, my 20 yr old looked at me like the hostesses had, and the Wife just rolled her eyes.

My sides *hurt* from laughing, Margi – it was amazing. Therapeutic, too! My elder child said that had never seen my face turn so red from laughter.

Damn. That was a good laugh, Margi. Thank you for making me laugh so hard.