I Need Edward Scissorhands

It has almost been two months since my last haircut and it really shows. The last cut was a bit on the short side, but now my hair is way over the long side. The sideburns are getting a little out of control, though they're not the worst of the chaos. They can easily be trimmed to buy me some time, but the rest of my hornet's nest is on its own. I'm thankful for the hair I still have on my head, but when it gets like this, not even I can appreciate it.

Not having internal organs, a nervous system, nor a conscience is fine with me since I never need a haircut.

No amount of styling gel can overcome the random cowlicks each day. There's already so much of it in my hair that my hair feels like plastic. It's as if my hair was taken from redheaded Ken (of Ken and Barbie fame). Plus, since my hair is curly, I always have a Superman-esque curl in the front so its abundently clear my folicles have run amok. I could go really short (2.5 on the top, 1.5 on the sides) with my next cut so this topic won't be revisited for another three months, or I could just get my haircut on time instead of putting it off for an extra three weeks like I have and gain no advantage.

You mean it's extra for my manicure? That's discrimination!

I have found one person in the DC area who I trust with my haircut, but I still favor my original one in NJ. She gave me a new cut back in high school that I haven't veered from since. Fortunately, as a guy, my haircuts never reach the astronomical prices that a woman sees (though those with long hair don't get it cut as often so the difference isn't too bad). If I really wanted to save some cash by sacrificing quality, I have two choices - Great Clips (which I've used a few times in the summer for my buzzcut (yet they managed to even mess that up)) or a FlowBee. I've never used a FlowBee, but I've always been curious how well it would do - but not so curious that I'd ever use one on myself, especially if I'd end up liking a tool like the guy pictured below. And yes, I just wanted to mention it so I could add its picture to this blog.

Doing this at the bar and wearing my tan and olive green shirt always attracts the ladies.

Me + Bowling = No Good

I've never had much bowling success. A great game for me is breaking 140, while the majority of games finish around 110. Thanks to my wacky ambedexterousness (it's my blog, so I'll create words), I bowl with my right-hand, though based on those scores, I should probably try with my left. Recently I made it out to the lanes was over Thanksgiving at some Hackensack (that's NJ folks) lanes. I bowled my usual 85 for the first game, but slowly increased over the next 3 with a final game of 142ish. It helped that I switched from using the ball's holes (get your mind out of the gutter), to a 7-pound ball (yes, it was reddish-pink) and just palming the ball for better grip and more success (ok, so I lead you into the gutter (wow, a double joke) this time).

While I'm at it, I was disturbed to learn that two local bowling places had closed (and that it showed I really have grown older). The first place I tried was the Bergenfield Recreation Center in Bergenfield (of course) where I spent many a Saturday afternoon trying to fit in as many games as I could with my friend, in the one hour we had the lane. It was ironic that it was a "recreation center" since the only recreation it offered was bowling, unless I was too young to realize something else was going on beyond the bar. I think we finished four games or something like that a few times.

Well, I thought about calling to see if the place was open over the holiday, but took my chances. We arrived at its location only see it fenced off and full of dirt. The place had vanished, or at least knocked down. Next I went with a long shot to go bowling off of Paris Avenue in Northvale, at the place used for the TV show "Ed", known as Stuckybowl. The outside was still there, but sadly there was no bowling to be done.

For whatever reason, I seem to sprain (or at least unable to crack the knuckle of) my right middle finger when using the holes, so palming a light ball is the way for me. I'm not ashamed to use the palming method (let's be mature about this one folks), just as there are some QBs who don't throw with laces and succeed, I see nothing wrong with my new method.

Did you make the national road rage list?

Instead of using my incredibly small corner of the blogging world to complain about specific drivers, I found this website. As long as you don't mind the annoying blinking advertisement on the left, you may see if you've ever made the list. For what it's worth, my drive home on Sunday wasn't too bad and only took 45 minutes more than a normal drive from NYC to DC. People used turned signals and nobody cut anyone off...it was driving nirvana.

Nature Valley Granola Bars are (crummy) crumby - literally, not tastefully

I was watching TV the other night when I saw a commercial for Nature Valley Granola Bars. They've been part of my mid-morning snack the last few weeks so naturally I took some interest. I enjoy the taste of their peanut butter, oats n' honey, lemon yogurt, and maple/brown sugar bars. I haven't tried any others, but have been told the fruit one should be avoided. Anyway, during this commercial, a woman casually unwraps the packagaing and bites into a bar - without any crumbs to be seen!

It is impossible to eat these bars without crumbs (except for the yogurt flavored bars since the yogurt keeps the crumbs together). When you open the package, the first thing you get is a handful of crumbs. Perhaps this is so the bar is easily digested by Mother Nature if you're out in the woods. Otherwise, it's a little frustrating. As I bite into a bar, even more crumbs fall, so I hope Mother Nature appreciates the fragility of the bars (if that's the intent), otherwise I could care less since an office building is nowhere near the rainforest.

A few weeks ago, someone I know who is a Nature Valley Bar Eating Expert said the way around the crumbs is to break apart the bar in the middle within the packaging. This way you eliminate creating crumbs upon first bite. When you open the package, be sure to do it over a garbage can to catch the crumbs that fall. Then, All you're left with are 4, bite-sized, crumb-free pieces (two pieces for each thin bar). Of course, I try pouring the crumbs in my mouth instead of the garbage, but you get the idea. I'm starting to think it's too much work. While the bars have a nice taste and are healthy, they require a lot of energy to deal with the crummy (or crumby) annoyance.

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For the rest of my blog full of rants, raves, and attempts at humor, its current address is:

http://bandtcrowd.blogspot.com

A reminder to be thankful

As we gather with friends and family to give thanks for all that we have, we are reminded of those who are not with us for they died this year. Please take a moment and recall such eccentric celebrities like Sam, the World's Ugliest Dog. He passed away the other day after 14 glorious years of making everyone look the other way. The World's Least Superficial Dog Owner said Sam was euthanized after his heart began to fail.

On that sad note...Happy Thanksgiving!

Duraflame Color-Changing Log...yeah, not so much

The first week for fireplace usage has been refreshing. It's always great to look at the flames and get warm the old fashioned way. I tried a little experiment this year by using the Duraflame Color-Changing Log (DCCL) - not to burn my real wood, but to try it because I've always been curious. Though I still love the regular woodburning colors, this was supposed to be a nice change of pace. Unfortunately, it only adds one color to the fire and disappoints too often. If you only want one color in addition to the usual dark blue and bright yellow/white you normally get, then the DCCL is for you.

The packaging shows many colored flames that don't appear when you finally light the log. The package shows the bright yellow/white and dark blue flames which is fine, but those come naturally with burning wood. The box also shows a light turqoise flame that you vividly do get to see, but it's the only non-naturally occuring color you get. After burning 3 logs, I never saw any of the "promised" red flames, nor any "promised" well-developed purple or green flames. I've only seen those colors in the slightest hue for a few seconds on one of the logs. They were probably a mirage because I kept thinking I'd see them so I made myself think they were there.

While it's nice to have a third flame color, it's cheapened when you keep waiting for the reds, greens, and purples to make as an agressive appearance. I've even tried burning it on the wrong side to no avail. I have 3 DCCLs left before it's back to the old reliable regular burning wood. If a DCCL could be used for regular wood burning, then things could be salvaged, but since they're not, they're not worth the time and money. I did try the crackle log and found it nice to listen to, but still too fragile for any real firewood burning. The tried and true woodburning without the bells and whistles is the way to go.

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For the rest of my blog full of rants, raves, and attempts at humor, its current address is:

http://bandtcrowd.blogspot.com

I almost ate cat poop for lunch

Before I head off to work, I usually clean the cat's litter box and deposit his deposits in one our many Giant/Shoppers/Target plastic bags. Well I usually make lunch the night before and also use one of those plastic bags to hold my not-so-extravagant lunches. Can you see where this is going? So this morning I cleaned up his gifts in a Target bag and carried it to my car while my carpooler took my lunch (also in a Target bag) to the car. I had a brainfart and forgot I wasn't carrying my lunch instead of the Target bag with cat poop in it. I placed the cat poop bag in the trunk with my other work items and was about to drive off when my carpooler asked what I had done with the cat's bag.

I ran outside, opened the trunk, and threw the poop bag in the garbage. Granted I probably wouldn't have ate it for lunch anyway since I had my actual lunch already in the car, but for all we know knowing me, I would have forgotten about the real lunch in the car when I got to work and would've taken the cat's "lunch" out of the trunk with my other stuff instead. Just imagine me walking to work with a bag of poop. Then around 12:30, I would have been starving for lunch, only to get one that's a little on the sandy side with a potpourri scent.

I'm a lover, not a fighter

I've received many (actually just one) emails about my Carl Kasell post a few days ago from one of NPR's greatest fans. With multiple radios tuned to NPR throughout their house, it'd be tough to find more devoted listeners than a few members of my Chicago fan club. I value their input about Carl's time on the air (shouldn't that phrase really be "in the air"?). I fully recognize his newswriting and reporting abilities as the profession's best, but I can't hear past that little saliva noise he makes. I tried listening this morning and it's still there in all its distracting glory. I doubt this elaborated my thoughts on NPR's news matriarch anymore than the first post, but I have to show my Chicago region readers that I read all of their compliments and complaints.

Afterall, once the NFL playoffs start, their football team will be shown for its false success b/c of a weak schedule. Ok, that wasn't really necessary, but I've done poorly in our football pick'em league (again!) while the current and former Chicago residents in the league always beat me to a pulp.

Sinclair = False News

http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_4024

It really got my interest from page 5 until the end. 'Nuff said.

Finally, something smells worse than my socks

This weekend, one of nature's worst smelling plants is expected to bloom at the U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory. The Titan Arum plant is known as the "corpse flower" because it smells like rotting meat. The flower's scent attracts carrion beetles and sweat bees. And I thought women loved any kind of flower. I guess the Botanic Garden Conservatory won't be a hot dating scene this weekend unless you've got a sick sense (or scents) of humor.

My Inner Pyromaniac

Call me crazy, but I enjoy sitting around the fireplace during these cold nights and watching the fire have its way. It has always been part of my family experience and have tried recreating it on a smaller scale in my apartment. I don't have the fireplace tools of my adolescent headquarters, nor the same sized-fireplace, but I get by. While my house has a poker for moving wood and a shovel to push around ashes, I merely have an old 3-iron with a cracked clubhead (part of my old apartment's memorabilia). It's sufficiently charred and does the trick when we have to poke a log or move one because of its hook design. I thought about buying a fireplace tool set, but I'll never use most of the pieces that come in a set, so you may cancel your gift orders. Anyway, using a golf club is cooler too.

When I began my firebuilding apprenticeship under my dad, I made the usual apprentice mistakes by being too aggressive by adding too much wood over the Duraflame log or firestarting bricket. I learned that you must strike a ying-yang balance between wood volume and oxygen passageways. I thought more wood meant more material for the fire to eat (and more heat). After enough fireplace theory classes, I understood that the real fuel for a fire is the oxygen. These days my fires usually reach the maximum heat production. I try to start slow with little wood on top and then add the big cuts once the foundation is going well. All that's left after that is a poke or too to stir things up.

Back in the day I used newspapers to start the fire. They're cheap and light quickly, but don't last long enough. The wood brickets do get the party started, but easily break apart with the slightest poke. The best is still a Duraflame log. Not only does it easily get the fire started, but it also lasts very long, can be poked and moved without losing its ability, and shows a touch of fireplace high class etiquette (or elitism). I might try the changing flamecolor model and see if I should believe the hype. I haven't tried any scented logs because nothing's better than what Mother Nature intended for burning (read: no gas fireplaces whenever possible).

I've always enjoyed the idea of watching a fireplace on TV. Living in a city apartment doesn't afford you the opportunity to have a fireplace because of logistics. Well, each ChanukRamaKwanMas (that's Chanukah, Ramadan, Kwanza, and Christmas) you can watch a professionally built buring fireplace. I wonder if someone's resume' actually lists, "built fire for televised fireplace" which would be changed into "Domestic Pyrotechnic Engineer". Can you go to school for that? I think it'd be really fun. You could go to fireplace building conventions, join a fireplace professional group, and eventually get a degree in fireplaceology. Ok, I took it too far.

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For the rest of my blog full of rants, raves, and attempts at humor, its current address is:

http://bandtcrowd.blogspot.com

Dictator or TV Character

Here's an old link that'll waste some time:

http://www.smalltime.com/dictator.html

It's a fun site that will guess any dictator or TV character you're thinking of. What's nice about it is when it does get stumped, you'll be asked to add a question to help it figure out who you had in mind for next time. Thereby always improving its accuracy. Give it a try.

Come on folks, we're flying here

Whenever any of us fly (somewhere), we're always asked, "How was the flight?" I used to never have any problems with the question, until I saw a short comedic cartoon that raised a good point...Why ask how the flight was when the act of flying is incredible enough? I mean you're flying! A few bumps of turbulence are so minor when you consider that you're tens of thousands of feet in the air, traveling 500 MPH, during which you're usually in a comfortable chair, with food service, and maybe a movie. I admit that I used to ask, "How was your flight?", but now I just ask if anyone was annoying on the flight. If the flight made you throw-up, that would be good information to share, but other than that, there's no need to let me know about a few sudden ups and downs.

Just appreciate the technology used to get you off the ground - such as how powerful the engines must be to get you in the air or even the idea that flying has become commonplace for everyone. 40-50 years ago, flying was only for the most elite citizens with cash to burn. Of course, there are detractors who'd argue that we've been flying for plenty of time now and shouldn't experience much bumpiness along the way - akin to the cars of today when we expect to feel less and less bumps. Of course, the airline can't control unstable pockets of air, just as even the smoothest riding car will jerk you around over a speed bump or on any D.C. street. I'd still rather hear about the baby crying in the back, the guy who snored next to you with bad breath, and the idiot who thinks his full-size suitcase is really a carry-on that'll fit in the overhead bin.

Shouldn't someone be looking the other way?

Carl Kasell's Spit

Since I'm not a music buff and have trouble understanding what most of today's rock singers actually say, my morning radio options are limited (unlike my afternoon drive when I look forward to "Don and Mike"). Most of the "funny" shows aren't funny, and during the 1 in 1,000 gimmicks they do that are listenable (making up words is so much fun), the host's hyena laughs make me look for the nearest wall to crash into. I used to enjoy most of what the Sport's Junkies did in the morning, but haven't been able to listen to them since they've moved to after the rush hour. I get annoyed with ESPN radio b/c Mike Golic doesn't add anything to Mike Greenberg's commentary on "Mike and Mike In the Morning". It's funny to hear Golic talk about something other than football. He's a great example of someone trying to sound like he knows something by simply repeating Greenberg's words and always agreeing.

Greenberg: Mariano Rivera's cut fastball scares every batter.
Golic: Rivera is a great pitcher.

Ya think so Golic? Gee, thanks for showing up today and adding so much to a show that Greenberg should do on his own.

This leads me to WTOP and it's traffic updates on the 8's vs. NPR. Sure I worked in TV news, but as you know, I was never, nor am I now, a news junkie. I go out of my way to avoid even the slightest talk of anything more than one top story of the day. It's one reason why I enjoy Internet news b/c I can read what I want when I want without any teases. I won't breakdown WTOP vs. NPR in one post, but I will say that both broadcasters have some "personalities" that are downright annoying and hard to listen to. If they're worthy, I will mention their tendancies in later entries. Which brings me today's inagural inductee.

Without further adeiu, the first "Today's annoying newscaster" is" (obligatory drumroll)...NPR's Carl Kasell. Yes, that is the proper spelling, but as seen in another blog entry, his name can/does appear as (I'm not holding spelling variations against him, but instead want to make sure blog search engines find their way over here (I'm a sellout, I know)):

Carl Casel Carl Casell Carl Cassel Carl Cassell
Carl Kasel Carl Kasell Carl Kassel Carl Kassell
Karl Casel Karl Casell Karl Cassel Karl Cassell
Karl Kasel Karl Kasell Karl Kassel Karl Kassell
Carl Castle Karl Castle Carl Kastle Karl Kastle

I know some of you are huge NPR fans and want me to stop saying anything negative about someone who has hosted a newscast at the start of each hour on "Morning Edition" since 1979. I know he has many journalism awards, yadda yadda yadda, but he has this speaking tick that makes me change the dial. I'm not questioning his newswriting, I'm just questioning his delivery. I still don't understand why people actually want the prize of his voice on their answering machine when you win "Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me."

(Lovely picture or too graphic?)

When he speaks, there's this sort of mini-swallowing sound, or "bubble-in-the-throat"noise, like his mouth is dry and he's adding saliva, made every 5 seconds. I can't get around it to hear the actual news. Try listening for it and you too will be turned off. Before I decided to change the station at the top of the hour on "Morning Edition", I'd wait for that noise and ignore anything else he says. His status as a great newsman allows him to stay put, but he's like a lot of newscasters out there who wouldn't get a job today because of how poorly they deliver the news. I know Carl writes really well, but it's time someone else reads his stories.

License Plate Stickers - Seriously People

With every late morning departure to work, I have time to enjoy the sights and sounds around me while slowly traversing the Potomac River. I have noticed many drivers can't follow simple directions. Today I'm not talking about road signs, right of way issues, and merges. I'm talking about license plate expiration sticker placement.

Updating your license with its new stickers is really quite simple. In this area, you get two stickers - one for the month and one for the year. The white/blue background year sticker goes in the upper-right and the red/green background month sticker goes in the upper-left. Many plates even have black outlines boxes so you know exactly where the stickers must go. Inevitably, this proves too hard for some folks out there. They're the same people who jammed their round block into the triangle hole until it fit in Kindergarten. Yesterday morning, someone had not only placed their month sticker in the bottom left, but covered it with their license plate bracket. Come on people.

Of course, some people place stickers in the upper corners, but still have the month sticker where the year should go. You folks aren't too bad, but you really should get things right at this point in your adulthood. To the DMV's (that's the MVA for Marylanders) credit, their instructions are as simple as placing stickers really is. And for full disclosure, the stickers for my relatively new car were put on the dealer, however, I promise you I never failed to properly place my license stickers on my old cars and plates.

Old School With a Touch of New School

So I've gone back to my thinner two-column format, but chose a blueish tone. The other style was nice and wide, but a little too wide for my taste. Hope ya like this one.

Only the best for you!

After seeing Eric's blog and its wider text layout, I (as if it's not apparent) decided to follow suit. I hope this makes the blog easier to read and takes away the crampness felt from the previous design. I also updated the list of "Fan Favorite Posts" in case you're a newbie or want to relive your greatest blog reading moments whenever you want.

Driver of the day #1

Black Lexus ES 300 - MD KVG 806. If you see this driver, expect to get cutoff without hesitation, and not receive a handwave of thanks.

TO Gets A Season-Long T.O.

Now that Terrell Owens is done for the year, and he successfully hurt both of my fantasy football teams, I wonder how this saga will play out across the league. TO is an extreme case of a loudmouth player who went too far, but I think NFL teams will keep all of their players on a shorter leash over the next year or two. TO is a great player and it's a shame he couldn't just play the game and leave it at that. While a team like the Raiders usually takes arrogant and selfish players that nobody wants, I can't see teams giving their players much room to mess up, miss practice, and say so many detrimental things. TO not only burned his bridges throughout the league, but he decreased everyone else's room for error when behaving badly.

I wouldn't want to be the next person to annoy a team and be compared to the second-coming of TO. It'll probably be another WR since they do more talking than anyone else because they don't get hit on every play or as much as any other position. That's why there are not RB's posing for the cameras, etc. They know they'll get hit about 25 times a game. A WR may only catch 3 or 4 balls a game, and even if you count the occasional shove or block, it's nowhere near the pounding a RB takes.

Terence Morris, my friend, my confidant..well not really

I made it to my first NBA game in two years on Saturday night to see the Washington Bullets (or the Wizards for you PC folk) play the Orlando Magic at the MCI Center. I went with a friend who was visiting from out of town. The tickets were comp from his friend who couldn't make it so I took that guy's place. After killing time around NW D.C., we settled one of the local eateries for a burger, fries, and buffalo wings. I had gorged myself by 5 and wasn't hungry the rest of the night.

We showed up at the main entrance around 5:30 and were let inside a few minutes later. There were a few outside attractions like guys on stilts with hoops over their heads, but it was pretty lame. We were among the first fans inside so we got a rally towel and a magnetic schedule from the Wiz dancers. Our seats were really good - midway up in the corner of the first level. No sightline issues, etc. With an hour before tipoff, some players were warming up so we sat in the first row of the first level to see how easy these guys make basketball seem. My goal was to meet Steve Francis and Terence Morris since they were my neighbors at MD, etc. Morris was shooting around on the other side of the baseline so I thought I wouldn't have a chance. Then, he walked all the way over to say hi to these two people and their son (who was wearing a MD Morris jersey). Terence was about 10 seats from me when I quickly went over to him and said hi.

Instead of the typical, "thanks for playing hard at MD and getting us to our first final four," I told him I had lived directly above him at our off-campus apartments at MD. After I told him my apt. number, he said, "oh yeah, you were right above us." I sounded stalkerish by telling him I knew their apt. number, but it didn't phase him. I mentioned I saw Lonny Baxter and Drew Nicholas there as well after he moved out. Then we posed for a picture during which I was one step above him. Which means I look like I'm 6'7" b/c he's 6'10", instead of the 7-inch height difference we really have. We shook hands and he was off for some more shooting.

The player intros were cool, this being the home opener, and the game moved quickly despite poor shooting on both sides and some especially bad shot selection by the Bullets. Terence still played passively on the outside and took the mid-range baseline shot he took at MD, but he wasn't consistently making them tonight. Steve played well and still moves faster than anyone on the court...when he wants to. He jumps out of the building and showed it on a rebound and a goaltended-block during the game. Dwight Howard looked really good and had a nice dunk after getting a rebound. Antonio Daniels' ankle-roll looked really bad. Unfortunately, Francis missed 2 free throws with under a minute to play that would have cut the lead to 2.

Of the whole night, my biggest complaint is the section discrimination we faced whenever prizes were given out. I know the seats were great, etc., but that doesn't mean we shouldn't get a shot at t-shirts or thunderstix (not that I'd ever use a pair). Every slingshot t-shirt toss went everywhere but us. When thunderstix were dropped from the catwalk by parachute, only one came in the entire section, while everyone else got at least 20 drops. Where was the love? It would've been nice if music wasn't played every possession either. Heaven forbid we hear their shoes squeak. The legroom was a problem upon my first sitting, but once I made sure I was firmly in the seat. It wasn't too bad outside of the cupholders digging into my shins on occasion.

The fans around us weren't too annoying except for 3 things: 1. The guy behind me spilled a few drops of beer trying to get to his seat. It wasn't much, he apologized, so no hard feelings, but come on, no party fouls are ever truly forgiven. 2. Behind us were 4 guys, 2 of which brought their girlfriends. While one girl actually was into the game, the other girl spent most of the time on her cell talking about anything except the game. I don't want to hear about you and your girlfriends' plans for Sunday brunch. 3. After Dwight Howard airballed his 2nd shot, some idiot said, "and that's why you need college." I couldn't believe he was serious. Howard is a solid player who averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds as a rookie last year and put up 17 and 11 this game.

Overall it was a good time, esp. when you get free tix, b/c I would never pay their face value to see a regular-season NBA game. Metro's Chinatown station was very empty as we exited the game with 10 seconds left and we were home 25 minutes later.

Greatest Urinal Ever!

Checkout this bathroom in Queenstown, New Zealand. I thought having TVs added to the wall at the urinal was the best idea ever, but I like this one much better. Perhaps it's time to change the wallpaper in my bathroom.

Nevermind the video, go ahead and plead innocent

In Sunday's Bengals/Packers game, with Brett Favre driving in the last minute of the game, a fan ran onto the field, took the ball from Brett and ran to the other end of the field. Security eventually caught up to him and probably gave him a nice idiot-punch (not seen below). The five-minute delay let the Bengals gather themselves and sack Favre on the next play to ultimately win the game.

Nevermind a discussion of the poor security measures that should have been in place to prevent this guy running on the field, but how could he actually plead innocent after being accused of resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct while intoxicated? It's not like there isn't lots of video and eyewitnesses to prove he did what he has been charged with. The judge probably had to refrain from laughing when this guy pleaded innocent. It's too bad a player didn't pull a Mike Curtis (of the Baltimore Colts for you young'uns) and clothesline the guy for being dumb enough to run on a football field during a game.

It can only go up from here

Call me crazy, but I think President Bush (or most likely one of his advisors) purposely nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court because they knew she wouldn't get support. Her credentials were a farce for someone tapped to be the next Justice - at the very least could she have some experience as a judge? With the bar set so low, the next nomination would certainly be compared to Miers, which makes this latest nominee look outstanding. That's not to say Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. can't stand on his own two feet (he is from the greatest state after all), but it helps when just being able to breathe puts you ahead of the last one knocked off the pedestal.

New Blogging Friend

If you think blogs can't get any better than mine, then you have the worst judgement in the world. If you think blogs can get better than mine, then you should checkout my friendly rookie blogger Brian at http://bbaum.blogspot.com. His blog mixes commentary and technology talk for the greatest (and only) blog ever found at its URL.