I know that millions of you out there will be heartbroken, but I am afraid I have to report that there will bo no updates to beansie until sometime tomorrow. I know, I know, whatever will you all do in the meantime?

The opportunity to have a life, such as it is, presented itself this weekend and I snatched it. I'm heading out in a few minutes to join a volunteer Earth Day Cleanup in downtown Waterbury that will last for a few hours. Then I'll be off to a friend's for a Fishing Season Opening Day Pig Roast/Camping party. I'm not sure exactly what'll transpire there, but I'm sure it'll involve people sitting around their pitched tents and drinking beers. It should be fun.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

posted at 7:05 AM | link |

Quick, call Mulder! And don't forget to check the back of this guy's neck!

posted at 8:42 PM | link |

The hills are alive, with the sound of MOO-sic....It's been a tough year for cows, huh?

posted at 8:24 PM | link |

You know, it's interesting... when you get to be my age (almost-but-not-quite 37 yrs old), you begin to notice yourself exhibiting certain characteristics of your parents, both physical and behavioral. For instance...

I went to City Hall yesterday to pay my mother's car taxes. In front of me in line was a woman and her two young sons. The littlest one was about 4 or 5 years old, cute as a bug and completely obnoxious. The Tax Collector's office was the last place in the world he wanted to be; he decided that a tantrum would get him what he wanted and so he started to yell at the top of his lungs, "I'm hungry! I'm hungry! I'm hungry! I'm hungry! I'm hungry!" nonstop while running in circles around his mother's legs. I stood there, watching him, waiting for him to feel my eyes boring into the top of his little head. He finally peered up at me over his little wrap-around sunglasses. The look in his eye said it all : "Are you on to me, Lady?" He was daring me to say something. Instead of smiling at him in a sweet, maternal manner and trying to engage him in coversation as a diversionary tactic, I found myself shooting this kid a look that Medusa would have envied. He stopped dead in his tracks, trying to gauge what threat I posed, if any. I was this close to leaning over and telling him to "Knock it off, right now" when he decided his chances for success were much better if he stayed in front of his mother and out of range of the daggers that were shooting out of my eyes. He quieted down shortly thereafter, but that's not the point of this story. The point is, that is exactly what my father would have done. Except he wouldn't have stopped at just the look - he would have leaned down and whispered those words in the kid's ear, nearby parent be damned. My only solace in this is knowing that I have a good 20 years before I get to that point.

I won't even get into what if feels like to look at my hands and see my mother's.

posted at 12:30 PM | link |

Filmwise has the Invisibles #19 quiz up. This one's a bit tougher than the last. I got 5 out of 8, but I left 3 blank. Good luck!

posted at 3:40 PM | link |

Jesus, people just amaze me. Nevermind the rampant misogyny - one has to wonder how binding this contract is if the subject of the contract, the "property", had no idea such a pact was being made. This is the 21st century, isn't it?

posted at 3:26 PM | link |

And now for something completely different...

Mr. Johnson is now trying to find five-year-old Morgan a home in a zoo or an aquarium.

I think maybe Mr. Johnson needs to find five-year-old Morgan a mate.

posted at 3:18 PM | link |

From The New York Times' "On This Day":

At Least 31 Are Dead, Scores Are Missing
After Car Bomb Attack in Oklahoma City
Wrecks 9-Story Federal Office Building

That was the NY Times frontpage headline the day after Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City six years ago. Reading the story, I was struck with the same sick feeling I had when I listened to the news reports come in over NPR in my office the day it happened. I remember later seeing the pictures on the television. I remember thinking this stuff doesn't happen here - it happens in Beirut, in Jerusalem, in Belfast, not in middle America. Not to little babies.

McVeigh's execution will take place in about a month, I believe. I'm not a believer in capital punishment, but what else do you do with someone who killed 168 men, women and children in cold blood? May God have mercy on his soul.

posted at 3:00 PM | link |

Oh, this poor guy has had the hiccups for 8 months. Man. I don't get them very often, but when I do it sometimes takes 2 or 3 days to get rid of them completely. That's nothing, though - the article mentions a guy who had the hiccups for 60 years.

posted at 8:23 AM | link |

Good morning! I spent a few hours last night changing the banner on each page and tweaking a couple of linking and design issues. Let me know if you encounter any bad stuff. Have a good day.

posted at 8:16 AM | link |

I just found out that Wonder Woman turns 60 this year. I'm not a comic book reader, but I loved the TV show, lol. Happy Birthday, Wonder Woman!

posted at 8:06 PM | link |

My horoscope from The Onion:

Cancer: (June 22--July 22)
Venus ascending in your sign may sound sexy, but it's really just a function of its orbit. So don't get all excited.

Fine.

posted at 2:39 PM | link |

I called my mother to make sure she knew about the President's visit and to suggest that she walk down the street to see what she could glimpse. Nah, she said. W. hasn't impressed her enough yet. She shook JFK's hand when he came through here when she was in high school and I doubt anyone will ever be able to top that.

posted at 12:00 PM | link |

Another design change. Whadya think?

[I'll update the other pages when I get home tonight - I've wasted enough time here at work this morning]

posted at 11:57 AM | link |

Okay, where the hell have I been? George W. is coming to Waterbury, CT today, the town where I work and where my mother lives. As a matter of fact, his helicopter, Marine One, should be landing right now up at Bradley International. He'll be visiting an elementary school in my mother's neighborhood. I had no idea. How pathetic is that? He's not my favorite president, but he's still President of the United States and how many opportunities do you get to see one in person in your life? So far zippo for me. Now I understand what those gigantic Army helicopters were doing landing in the trees up on the hill off the highway the other night.

I better call my mother and see if she knows.

posted at 10:19 AM | link |

Christ Almighty.

It's s - n - o - w - i - n - g .

posted at 8:10 AM | link |

The ex post facto page has been updated to include my thoughts on "Three Words".

posted at 11:53 PM | link |

Cats and dogs, living together - mass hysteria!

Damn, that's a cute picture.

posted at 11:50 PM | link |

I swore yesterday that I would rewatch "Three Words" last night and write my review and heavens to Betsy, I actually did what I said I was going to do. Red, faster than a speeding bullet, has posted my review along with hers and Colleen's at GeekSpeak. Thanks, Red.

posted at 6:14 PM | link |

Ah, those Wacky Romanians...

Just what a man needs, lessons on how to be a sleaze.

Setup: Do you smoke after sex?
Punchline: I don't know, I never looked .

posted at 12:49 PM | link |

sexiestgeekalive.com. I think the name speaks for itself. I guess the "pageant" kicks off this month and the winner will be chosen in June. You can check out last year's SGA and consult the tour dates section for an appearance near you.

Right on.

posted at 12:28 PM | link |

Sci-Fi has an interview up with The Lone Gunmen. I don't watch the show because of airtime conflicts, but as a fan of The X-Files I enjoyed the article just the same.

posted at 11:47 AM | link |

Joey Ramone Remembered.

I never really got into The Ramones. For me, once you heard one Ramones song you'd heard them all. And forget about going to a Ramones show -- two male friends of mine went to a Ramones show in a local club about 10 years ago and came home looking like they had been mauled by a really pissed-off wild animal. Their shirts were in shreds, eyeglasses were broken, wristwatches had been ripped off and there were fleshwounds as well. I was in my mid-20s by then, so maybe I was too old to appreciate that kind of vibe. Who knows.

Regardless of whether or not I ever got into the Ramones, though, there is no denying the much needed kick in the ass they gave to rock 'n roll.

posted at 4:48 PM | link |

A man walked by Sheila and me on Saturday night while we were listening to a band play at our favorite bar. It was pretty obvious there was something a little 'off' about him. He took short little steps and walked very closely behind the person in front of him. His head sort of twitched about like a bird's. Being the compassionate person that I am, I nudged Sheila and told her to check him out.

Me (sort of out of the corner of my mouth), "Check out this guy... I think there's something wrong with him."

Sheila takes a faux casual look around and says back, "Is he retarded? Or is he from Yale?"

I laughed for 10 minutes straight.

posted at 2:12 PM | link |

I heard on the radio this morning that David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, has informed all cast and crew associated with the show that they are not to deal with abcnews.com (or ABC News, I would assume) since the online news source has posted spoilers (or possible spoilers) about who will get "offed" on the series this year. I'm not including the link to the abcnews.com story because I don't want encourage the spoilage. Besides, I'm sure that if you really want to know you'll have no trouble finding the article.

posted at 2:01 PM | link |

From MSNBC's News of the Weird:

Frankfurt University researchers, according to a January issue of New Scientist, found that ants living in bamboo stems in Malaysian rain forests keep their nests dry by drinking any water that seeps in, then exiting the nest, urinating, then returning to the nest, repeating the process over and over until the nest is dry. The researchers found that 2 milliliters of water in a nest caused a colony's ants to scurry back and forth until they had urinated 3,000 droplets outside. [New Scientist, 1-6-01]

Sounds like me after a few beers.

posted at 1:54 PM | link |

Off to Paper Clip Hell, I hope.

posted at 1:23 PM | link |

Red has updated GeekSpeak with reviews of "Three Words" and the Xcursion Guys weekly column is up. I have yet to read either site's reviews myself, and I won't until I get my own thoughts down. At this rate, I may never read them!

I will watch tonight and write, I promise. Really. I swear.

posted at 1:18 PM | link |

What a great homecoming picture.

posted at 7:49 PM | link |

[This is something I know I've always wondered about]

Well, Whadya Know

Why is it easier to tear an article from a newspaper from top
to bottom than from side to side?

In order to print the news, you need newsprint, the wood pulp paper product on
which the opin . . . uh facts go. That pulp is broken down
into many small fibers that tumble onto a conveyor belt.
This process naturally aligns them in the direction the belt
is moving, a direction they retain when formed into sheets
and then large rolls of newsprint: straight up and down.

Thus when you clip an article from top to bottom you go with
the grain and achieve a smooth cut; tear it out from the side
and you are ripping against the grain and risk losing part of
the article.

[source: Ever Wonder Why? By Douglas B. Smith]

posted at 7:25 PM | link |

"I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." John 11:25-26

Have a wonderful Easter, everyone.

posted at 9:04 AM | link |