MUST SEE!

Oh, this is too funny.  I must be falling down on my game not to have thought of this first - though it does make me wish I'd souped up my clown prank just after college and submitted that....long (but funny) story.

Anyway, it's a video clip from the Today Show from today (Dec. 29).  It should still be visible on the home page and you must use Internet Explorer to play it (unfortunately).  In case you have to search, the title of the story/clip is...

"You've won the lottery! Not so fast..."

I'm still laughing.  Enjoy!

blissful correction

I guess if I visit Iowa in the spring I won't be visiting my niece, because...


very cute you two!

The next big thing

I might be woveling my driveway sometime soon!!

Thanks to Jeff Kramer.

What have I gotten myself into?

Front page story of today's Syracuse Post-Standard: Snow didn't wait for winter

Because we've already had over 56 inches of snow!!!

December's average temperature of 23.3 degrees in Syracuse through Monday ranks as the seventh coldest start to the month since 1922 ... Syracuse hasn'thad one day above 40 degrees the entire month.

Luckily, we at least have something to look forward to in The Great New York State Golden Snowball Contest, where we're currently in first place and doing well to blow away the competition.

Dingell's Jingle

Congressman John D. Dingell (MI-15) recited the following poem on the floor of the US House of Representatives.
-- from Crooks and Liars

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House
No bills were passed 'bout which Fox News could grouse;
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer,
So vacations in St. Barts soon would be near;

Katrina kids were nestled all snug in motel beds,
While visions of school and home danced in their heads;
In Iraq our soldiers needed supplies and a plan,
Plus nuclear weapons were being built in Iran;

Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell;
Americans feared we were on a fast track to…well…
Wait--- we need a distraction--- something divisive and wily;
A fabrication straight from the mouth of O'Reilly

We can pretend that Christmas is under attack
Hold a vote to save it--- then pat ourselves on the back;
Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger
Wake up Congress, they're in no danger!

This time of year we see Christmas every where we go,
From churches, to homes, to schools, and yes…even Costco;
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy,
When this is the season to unite us with joy

At Christmas time we're taught to unite,
We don't need a made-up reason to fight
So on O'Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter, and those right wing blogs;
You should just sit back, relax…have a few egg nogs!

'Tis the holiday season: enjoy it a pinch
With all our real problems, do we honestly need another Grinch?

So to my friends and my colleagues I say with delight,
A merry Christmas to all,
and to Bill O'Reilly…Happy Holidays.

whoa, did you see something?

oh, it's just the flash...on skates.

games, part II

Set...

Let the games begin

Ready...

The high for today won't even reach 26

But I will.

As will Seth Cohen - how funny!

You know you're a Central New Yorker if...

You see this headline in the paper:

Bocce court 1 of 5 ideas for former fire station

Discovery #1

At -1 degrees, boogers freeze.

I found that out this morning.

School meals are preventative medicine

A good series of articles from the Center for Ecoliteracy's Rethinking School Lunch program. I particularly like one by Anne Cooper, (Penny-wise and Pounds Foolish) the director of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District...

Where to next?

A nice, albiet stolen, idea...

The scoop: bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C. /

Or, if you're of the visual type:

It's very hard to happen across the middle of America, which is too bad. Maybe I'll bundle up and go visit my soon-to-be niece in Iowa sometime in the spring. That'd be a start. Or I could follow in the footsteps of Liz and Margaret's Excellent Adventure!

I'M STANDING UP!

Okay, not really. But at some point I'm sure our house will be completely covered and this will be true. A co-worker who lives about 30 min north of here had 7 ft. over two days a few years back.

I've really got to look into winter sports around here.

Lizzy at work

It really did take a long time.

Shoveling: Day 1 cont.

two hours later, still going strong.

Did I mention the 14 INCHES of snow?

In one night.

So let me attempt to put all of this in context. I grew up in lovely Mobile, Alabama, down on the Gulf Coast. In my eighteen years of living there it snowed two times -- not two prolonged, multi-day snow storms. I'm saying that white stuff fell from the sky on two separate, brief occasions. The first time, I don't remember that well but I was pretty young. I remember being so excited to make a snowman for the first time, but was understandably disappointed when they didn't turn out white. Why didn't they turn out white? Because we might have gotten one inch of snow that time. It was heavenly, and I loved that snowman with all my heart for the 2 hours before it melted.

Special occasion #2: Junior year in high school, we were all piled into the gym of the school for a holiday assembly. The jazz band was playing Let it Snow and someone came running inside saying it had started to snow. (I'm not kidding. Well, I don't think I'm kidding. I wasn't actually there at the time - I was at an eye appointment, but when I came out and could see more clearly than ever before with my new contacts, I did in fact witness the snow fall.) Back at school, people went crazy! (or so I heard) It was mid-morning at this point and within the hour, school was being let out early. I don't know exactly how much fell that time, but it was enough to cover the grass!! And one advantage of snowfall in the South...they forecasted another inch of snow the next day -- school was cancelled. I realize that may sound crazy to snow-friendly folks, but there are enough people here in Central New York who drive like crazies in the snow -- you can imagine what it would be like with EVERYONE on the road freaking out.

It also meant a day off after being at the school late that night with Adrian while our parents picked rotten fruit out the dumpster.

There's never a second chance...

To make your first snow angel (with your wife).

And there's got to be something to break up the shoveling.

Shoveling: Day 1

Two car driveway, luckily barely two cars long. So it shouldn't take long, right?

Look! The lighthouse is still there!

No really, it's still there; complete with water and gondola and everything. A constant reminder of marital bliss. Thanks, friends!

(oh Tim...)

We're not in Bama anymore.

I really do hope the tank survives its first winter.

Digging out.

Seriously?

And so it began.

With a bang! This first storm didn't mess around, dumping about 14 inches on us over night. I couldn't even get out the door to start shoveling!

That was last weekend. Since then, we've had a few more days of 4-6 inches, just to keep things interesting.

And this is supposed to last four months? That's INSANE! Why do people live here? And why do I live here?? Oh yeah, the apple of my eye...

Guess what? Marketing works.

A new report from the Institute of Medicine reveals, shockingly, that the food industry markets its high fat, high sugar, low nutrient food to children.

And guess what -- IT WORKS, putting children's long-term health at risk.

This is just crazy. It took a congressional directive to allow the government to conduct such a study - many variations of which have been well known for years. But the power and influence behind ane $11 billion dollar child marketing industry has somehow been able to protect itself and effectively divert attention from its role in the rapidly advancing the childhood obesity epidimic. And even now, there's no telling if government will finally begin to hold industy, and all other influencing parties, accountable. Why does it take dozens of years and MILLIONS of dollars in studies to say once again what any basic logic can tell -- advertising to kids works.

So if this report offers "the most comprehensive review to date of the scientific evidence on the influence of food marketing on diets of children and youth," will Congress -- after almost 25 years -- once again favor what is right over what is politically acceptable and choose to ban all junk-food ads targeting kids?

Invisible oil, in more ways that one...

from The Breaking Point, by Peter Maass
NYT: August 21, 2005

Fascinating...

"In a technological sleight of hand, oil can be extracted from the deserts of Arabia, processed to get rid of water and gas, sent through pipelines to a terminal on the gulf, loaded onto a supertanker and shipped to a port thousands of miles away, then run through a refinery and poured into a tanker truck that delivers it to a suburban gas station, where it is pumped into an S.U.V. -- all without anyone's actually glimpsing the stuff. So long as there is enough oil to fuel the global economy, it is not only out of sight but also out of mind, at least for consumers."

SCARY...

"If consumption begins to exceed production by even a small amount, the price of a barrel of oil could soar to triple-digit levels. This, in turn, could bring on a global recession, a result of exorbitant prices for transport fuels and for products that rely on petrochemicals -- which is to say, almost every product on the market. The impact on the American way of life would be profound: cars cannot be propelled by roof-borne windmills. The suburban and exurban lifestyles, hinged to two-car families and constant trips to work, school and Wal-Mart, might become unaffordable or, if gas rationing is imposed, impossible. Carpools would be the least imposing of many inconveniences; the cost of home heating would soar -- assuming, of course, that climate-controlled habitats do not become just a fond memory."

Pain

Published June 28, 2000: NYT article on Bush, before even the Republican primary of his first round...

The fundamental question is, 'Will I be a successful president when it comes to foreign policy?'" ... He went on to suggest, as he did in answer to other questions, that voters should simply trust him.

Another great one from this same article -- when asked about allegations by Gore's camp that W was behind a smear campaign on Gore's fund-raising activities...

It's frankly the type of politics people in America are sick of, this kind of finger pointing, calling names and trying to divert attention.

It's just infuriating to think of how divisive electoral politics has become. It's all one big distorted mess, virtually impossible to comprehend.

the apple of my eye

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