Normally the twins take about a three hour nap, which would have given me plenty of time to watch last night’s “24″.  But nooooo, not today.  Today they decided to wake up with about 40 minutes left, so it’ll be tomorrow before I find out what happens.

Bah.  At least they’re in a cute and happy mood… but I gotta tell you, “Go Diego Go” is no “24″.

Not “24″ Questions, I guess… but questions about “24″.  Is it just me, or did the dialogue last night seem kinda weak?  Both Elaine and I noticed they were really pounding the “Boy, the president sure gave up a lot to get Jack released” plotline.  I think three characters mentioned this in about five minutes. 

Also, where’d the terrorists get the key to Jack’s handcuffs? 

And last but not least, the guy who played the contractor that wanted to beat up Ahmed seemed really familiar, but I can’t place his name.  Any ideas?

Looks like chefs in Chicago aren’t afraid of the foie gras ban.  Good for them, I say.

There’s apparently a new movement calling for babies to be potty-trained shortly after they’re born.  It’s called Elimination Communication, and the advocates believe it’s not right for babies to sit in wet or dirty diapers.

Where’s this taking place?  New York City, of course.  Surprisingly, there’s no mention of Mayor Bloomberg in all this.  I guess he wants us all to be a bunch of babies.

lock the library from 2:45 to 5 pm on week days, reports the New York Times. Librarians complain some students “fight, urinate on the bathroom floor, scrawl graffiti on the walls, talk back to librarians or refuse to leave when asked.” On average, they call police twice a day to deal with students.

What.  The.  Hell?  What are these parents doing when informed about their child’s behavior?  I know when we’ve gotten calls from Harrison’s school about him disrupting class (which happens far too often for my liking… usually once every couple of years), there are some consequences.  Are the parents just ignoring this behavior?

Joanne also notes the Fairfax County Library System is getting rid of classics, while keeping newer books on the shelf.  I confess, I haven’t checked out any classics from the Fairfax County Library System since I moved here in ‘04.  Then again, I have many of them on the shelf at home.  The other day Harrison came home and said he needed a copy of “Lord of the Flies” for English class.  It took Elaine ten seconds to go to the bookcase, grab the book and give it to Harrison. 

I typically use our local library to get books that I know don’t have a long shelf-life (most political books, for instance, I check out rather than buy).  I’ll also peruse the new release section for books by authors that I haven’t heard of before.  I’ll check out a book, and if I like the author, I’ll usually go to Barnes and Noble and buy one or two of their other books. 

I understand the desire to have the classics on the shelf, but if they’re not being read, then it’s kind of a waste of space, isn’t it?  Miller’s assertion that:

If public libraries attempt to compete in this environment, they will increasingly be seen for what Fairfax County apparently envisions them to be: welfare programs for middle-class readers who would rather borrow Nelson DeMille’s newest potboiler than spend a few dollars for it at their local Wal-Mart.

Instead of embracing this doomed model, libraries might seek to differentiate themselves among the many options readers now have, using a good dictionary as the model. Such a dictionary doesn’t merely describe the words of a language–it provides proper spelling, pronunciation and usage. New words come in and old ones go out, but a reliable lexicon becomes a foundation of linguistic stability and coherence. Likewise, libraries should seek to shore up the culture against the eroding force of trends.

Of course, that means that fewer people will actually use the library, but never-you-mind.  Maybe I’m just one of those middle-class readers on “library welfare”, but I like the fact that I can find stuff there that I don’t have at home. 

Guitar Hero 2 has a Spinal Tap song (Tonight I’m Gonna Rock Ya).  How cool is that?  I’ll be able to educate young Andrew in the classics without him even knowing!  Right now he and his friend are playing along to Spinal Tap, and just finished playing something by Motley Crue (Too Young To Fall In Love, I believe). 

Hee hee… my son the metalhead.

The New York Post has a story talking about all of the things  New York City has banned (or tried to) this year.

* Trans-fats.

* Aluminum baseball bats.

* The purchase of tobacco by 18- to 20-year-olds.

* Foie gras.

* Pedicabs in parks.

* New fast-food restaurants (but only in poor neighborhoods).

* Lobbyists from the floor of council chambers.

* Lobbying city agencies after working at the same agency.

* Vehicles in Central and Prospect parks.

* Cell phones in upscale restaurants.

* The sale of pork products made in a processing plant in Tar Heel, N.C., because of a unionization dispute.

* Mail-order pharmaceutical plans.

* Candy-flavored cigarettes.

* Gas-station operators adjusting prices more than once daily.

* Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

* Wal-Mart.

Paging Nurse Bloomberg… paging Nurse Bloomberg to City Hall.  So far Twinkies and Ring-Ding’s haven’t been banned yet and the city needs your help!

- anything longer than a 15 minute car ride requires a Dramanine for Andrew.  This means you cannot go to Best Buy without dosing him.

- you forgot that Best Buy has “24″ on sale… $19.99 per season.  That means you could have bought two seasons of “24″ for the same price that got you one season of “The Office”.  And no matter how funny “The Office” is… it doesn’t have Jack Bauer.

First of all, I’m having some problems with WordPress that’s affecting my ability to see any comments that might be in the moderation queue.  I’m working on it, but I don’t know when it’ll be fixed.  Sorry ’bout that.

This post by Glenn reminded me that I haven’t mentioned I bought Orson Scott Card’s Empire. 

I found the first 2/3′rds of it to be pretty good, but the ending left me flat.  It seemed rushed for some reason.  Maybe I was just expecting more of a Harry Turtledove-style trilogy (or octagony as the case may be with Turtledove), but I would have liked to see the plot stretched out for another book. 

I’d also forgotten about Ferrigno’s Prayers for the Assassin, which I’d meant to pick up when it came out.  Might be time to head to Barnes and Noble tonight.  I’m on vacation and I have nothing new to read, which seems like a good excuse to buy a few books… regardless of how soon Christmas will be here.

I seem to recall a series of books that explored similar themes, but for the life of me I can’t think of the name of the author.  Joel Rosenberg sounds familiar, but I know it’s not this Joel Rosenberg… although he’s a great science fiction writer in his own right.

Nevermind.  Found it.  Joel C. Rosenberg.  The Last Jihad.  The Last Days.  The Ezekiel Option.  Woohoo… sequels!  If not Barnes and Noble, I’m at least headed to the local library. 

Over at On Tap we’re handing out our end of the year awards.  First category:  Destined for Political Stardom.

First they were the Indians.  Then they were the Riverhawks.  Now they’re just called O.

That’s what one doctor says in this piece in the WaPo.

Justin’s football helmet is roughly one-fifth of his total height. His pants sag toward his feet. He believes in Santa.

He is part of what youth football organizers say is a growing phenomenon across the country: Parents are bringing children as young as 5 out to play tackle football, in part to prepare them for more serious competition a few years later….

“Ouch,” Joseph Zanga, a North Carolina physician and past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said when told of teams like the Ankle Biters. “In this pediatrician’s opinion . . . it’s not appropriate.”

I played football when I was 5, and I was without a doubt the smallest kid on the field.  In fact, I was always one of the smaller kids on the field, even in high school.  And because I was also one of the slowest I played offensive and defensive line.  I still have a picture of me from kindergarten in my football uniform.  I’ll have to dig it up and scan it so I can post it here.

By the way, Andrew (at age 6) doesn’t play football, although he is getting to the point where he wants to watch football with me on television.  I’d sign him up, but he’s already in Cub Scouts and I don’t want him to be one of those kids who’s got a different activity every stinkin’ day.  I suspect when spring rolls around he’ll be playing Little League in addition to scouting, and that’s probably enough.

I busted out the old Christmas cd for the first time today and got to thinking… what’s your favorite Christmas song?  Not Christmas carol per se… just a good Christmas tune.

I’d have to go with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, or maybe “Christmas Wrapping” by the Waitresses.  “Christmas in Hollis” by Run-DMC is up there too.

Odd headline, I know.  But it appears as if Greg, the Yellow Wiggle, will be retiring. 

This will be huge in our house, though the blow is lessened by the fact that it’s not Anthony leaving the group.  Elaine might actually be depressed by that. 

I agree with Sara about the OSU AD.  Not very classy.  From the news story:

Mike Holder has a message for University of Oklahoma fans balking at paying top-dollar for Saturday’s Bedlam matchup at Boone Pickens Stadium.

If you don’t like it …

“Good, stay home. Don’t come,” the Oklahoma State University athletic director said Monday. “I don’t care if any of them show up. Just bring that football team out here.”

No no, we want them to come.  Why? 

There still are more than 1,000 seats available on the stadium’s north side — 47 at the $250 level, 126 at the $300 level and about 1,000 at the $600 level.

If OSU doesn’t sell the tickets within the next five days, that will make it a clean sweep for nonsellouts at Boone Pickens Stadium this season — and the first true Bedlam bust in the past several years.

“We’re not going to discount any prices to try to fill (the stadium) up,” Holder said. “If it doesn’t sell out, it doesn’t sell out. It’s not the end of the world. We haven’t sold out one all year.

“We don’t rely on them for anything. Are you kidding me? Rely on OU?”

Well, you obviously can’t rely on Cowboy fans like me to buy the tickets… because we haven’t. 

“It’s a different world up here now,” Holder said. “This isn’t the same old Oklahoma State. Look in that (west) endzone. My gosh. Our tickets are less expensive than the ones at OU. They sell 84,000 of them. We should be able to sell 44,000.

“We’re not going to cut ticket prices. If we want to compete with the best teams in this conference, we’ve got to increase our ticket prices. If we start winning, (fans) will come out.”

Um… Mr. Holder, that’s not typically how it works.  Usually you raise ticket prices in response to a team’s success.  You don’t really raise ticket prices hoping that makes the team better.  And what does that mean, anway… “if we want to compete with the best teams in this conference, we’ve got to increase our ticket prices”?  We’re not paying these athletes, are we?  And we just had a major facility upgrade to both the basketball arena and the football stadium.  So what on earth are you talking about?

You don’t often hear the head of a company say that about his product.  Then again, this is Jones Soda we’re talking about.

Green pea, along with other unusual sodas such as turkey and gravy, dinner roll, sweet potato and antacid flavor, will be part of the company’s $10 to $15 “holiday pack” of bottled drinks available nationwide.

Peter van Stolk, chief executive of Jones Soda, said on Monday the collection of strange-flavored sodas usually sells out quickly, even though he can not stomach the drinks. Past flavors included broccoli casserole, corn on the cob and Brussel sprout.

“Why people buy it is beyond me. I can’t drink a bottle of this stuff,” said van Stolk.

In my fridge I have three bottles of Eggnog Soda from Jones.  It’s not bad, but a little too sweet for my taste. 

The San Francisco 49′ers are in a dispute with the city over a new stadium, and the 49′ers have indicated they’ll move the team to Santa Clara in the near future.  Now Senator Dianne Feinstein says she’s exploring legislation to prevent the team from keeping its name.

“When a team takes the name and in this case the heritage of a city, it causes great consternation,'’ the former San Francisco mayor said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

“You can’t move to Santa Clara and call yourself the 49ers,'’ Feinstein said.

Oh really?  I’d say that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the L.A. Lakers prove that you can move a team and keep their geographically significant name, even if it doesn’t make any sense. 

Other teams that moved to California and kept their old names include the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics.  Then there’s the Oakland Raiders (formerly the Los Angeles Raiders, formerly the Oakland Raiders). 

You know, if Feinstein doesn’t think that a team has the right to keep its name if it moves, she’s not going to have much of a problem going after re-defining legally owned firearms to make them illegal. 

I went to my first NHL game over the weekend.  The Capitals played the Rangers at MCI Center, I had free tickets, so Marshall (from OnTap) and I took in the game.

I’m pretty impressed with MCI Center.  Andrew would really like to go see a Wizards game, but the cheapest seats are $40, which is about twice what I would normally pay for nosebleed seats.  But after seeing the place in person, I think even in the upper levels you get a pretty good view.  So while I’m no fan of the NBA, I’ll probably plunk down the $80 and take him to a game soon.

As far as the game goes… well, it was a little bit better than those Blazers games I loved to attend.  I don’t follow the NHL at all, but living in the D.C. area you hear about Alex Ovechkin.  The kid lives up to his hype.  I was even more impressed with Olie Kolzig, the goalie for the Caps.  He was amazing, only allowing one goal (and that was during a Rangers power play when the Rangers had pulled their goalie.  6-4’s gonna give you a bit of an advantage). 

The final was 3-1, and then it was time to get home.  I had taken the Metro in because I’m too cheap to park, so I was expecting to have a crammed ride.  It was pretty tight for a couple of stops, but by the time we’d gotten to the Pentagon metro stop (about halfway home for me) I was able to find a place to sit. 

All in all, not a bad night.  A boring blog post, but a nice night.

Who would have thought after all this time they could improve on the design of the condom. 

The best ideas are always the ones that make you say “why didn’t I think of that?”, aren’t they?

Granted, this is picking the low-hanging fruit, but I can’t resist this story. 

Hundreds of police officers showed up to keep the peace at what was supposed to be an anti-war rally Saturday afternoon. Police are now calling it a waste of resources after the protesters did not show.

It’s a mix up that will cost tax payers tens of thousands of dollars. The anti-war demonstration at Washington Square was supposed to start at noon and the Chicago Police Department was ready. But the protesters were a no show, and police say it was a big waste of time and money.

“We prepared a response to ensure that they would have a safe, orderly march, behind that and unfortunately what happens was this group cancelled their march without informing the Chicago Police Department,” said Deputy Superintendent Charles Williams, Chicago Police Department.

But the anti-war protestors say it’s all the fault of The Man.

The organizer of the protest, John Beacham, says his group instead decided to pass out anti-war flyers throughout neighborhoods. He says the mix up is the city’s fault.

“We never got a permit from the city,” said John Beacham, Illinois Anti-War Coalition.

The police showed us what they say is the permit — approved months ago — with John Beacham’s name right at the top.

“I know nothing about that. We applied for a permit and there was never any confirmation of the permit from the city and a long time ago we decided not to have a demonstration,” said Beacham.

Beacham had one more theory as to why the police department should have known protesters weren’t showing up.

“The city is usually spying on us and watching us carefully, so we just figured they understood there wasn’t a demonstration today,” said Beecham.
Victim mentality and moonbat paranoia. 

And not to rain on your parade John, but I doubt the police are spying on you.  After all, you’re not even effective enough to hold an actual protest.  Methinks the cops have better things to do. 

I haven’t seen a day full of this much anti-gun hysteria in a long time.  Should be fun to discuss tonight. 

In the meantime, can someone please tell Rachael Ray that her 15 minutes is up?  Either that or sic Anthony Bourdain on her. 

Hat tip to Bitter.

In New York, if you’ve ever wondered what’s going on in the ladies restroom… all you have to do is dress as a woman. 

I know I’m fairly old-fashioned, but isn’t this going a bit too far? 

Went to Barnes and Noble the other night and loaded up on books.  Thought I’d share what I’ve been reading as of late. 

Will Storr vs. the Supernatural by Will Storr.  Fairly funny and engaging look at one guy’s journey into the world of ghosts and goblins.  Very British humor.  I bought it because of the blurb from Jon Ronson, who wrote the book Them, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Not in Kansas Anymore by Christine Wicker.  I liked her last book on Lily Dale, but so far I’m not that impressed with this book on witchcraft, voodoo, etc. in America.  So far it’s a little boring actually.

Also picked up Next Man Up by John Feinstein.  A look at one year with the Baltimore Ravens… but at least it’s not another freaking golf book by Feinstein.  I keep waiting for him to revisit the world of Major League Baseball.  Seriously John, it’s been 13 years.  Write another baseball book.

Also, I didn’t buy this one (borrowed it from Jim), but I’m reading World War Z by Max Brooks.  It’s a sci-fi/horror oral history of the great Zombie war.  Not bad at all, though seeing Howard Dean portrayed as a great hero kinda makes me laugh. 

So there you have it… what I’m reading these days. 

We don’t have Miracle Whip in our house (Elaine hates it, and only buys real mayo), but I grew up on the stuff in Oklahoma. 

So now they’ve changed the formula, and it sounds like they did it to reduce the amount of soybean oil in the product. 

You know, offer me low-fat, offer me fat-free, give me Oreo’s baked in a wood burning oven, but for the love of all that is holy, give me choices.  If I want regular Miracle Whip because it tastes better, then give me that option. 

Ugh.  And yes, I realize this argument would be a heckuva lot more effective coming from someone who wasn’t so chunky.