Merry Merry & Happy Happy!

This week was awful...the transit strike, certain instances at work, etc. but for some reason I've been in a pretty good mood the last couple of days. Maybe it's holiday spirit or something? I spent Christmas Eve with my folks, step-brother, his wife and my nephews. It was absolutely delightful. Even though the kids are older (9 and 15 years old), it makes me happy that I'm still "the cool aunt". Tomorrow will be dinner with the folks again and then we'll celebrate Chanukah on Tuesday. Mmmmmmm latkes!

Anyway, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and just health and happiness all around. A little cheesy, I know, but truly heartfelt nonetheless.

Some silliness on a stressful day...

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Your Birthdate: April 10

Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations. You're very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you. Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans. You are quite original. When people don't "get" you, it bothers you a lot. Your strength: Your ability to gain respect Your weakness: Caring too much what others think Your power color: Orange-red Your power symbol: Letter X Your power month: October

Quite a gamble

In Final Hours, M.T.A. Took a Big Risk on Pensions On the final day of intense negotiations, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, it turns out, greatly altered what it had called its final offer, to address many of the objections of the transit workers' union. The authority improved its earlier wage proposals, dropped its demand for concessions on health benefits and stopped calling for an increase in the retirement age, to 62 from 55.

But then, just hours before the strike deadline, the authority's chairman, Peter S. Kalikow, put forward a surprise demand that stunned the union. Seeking to rein in the authority's soaring pension costs, he asked that all new transit workers contribute 6 percent of their wages toward their pensions, up from the 2 percent that current workers pay. The union balked, and then shut down the nation's largest transit system for the first time in a quarter-century.

So, for the bargain price of $20 million the MTA lost the city billions at the worst time of year possible? Happy freakin' holidays to you too, guys.

Reason wins out, at least in PA

Judge rules against ‘intelligent design’ HARRISBURG, Pa. - In one of the biggest courtroom clashes between faith and evolution since the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, a federal judge barred a Pennsylvania public school district Tuesday from teaching “intelligent design” in biology class, saying the concept is creationism in disguise.

Now if only the MTA and TWU could see reason as well!

pj's or little black dress?

Getting a Jump on New Year's Eve CHAMPAGNE in a fabulous party space or a bottle of Bud in a rock club? Dinner in elegant surroundings or a frosty run in Central Park? Times Square or your easy chair? The myriad choices for New Year's Eve entertainment in New York can leave the most decisive reveler befuddled. For those whose plans are still up in the air, seven critics and reporters of The New York Times suggest itineraries involving clubs, restaurants, theaters and, yes, Central Park.

It's only 2 weeks until New Year's Eve and yet conversations about what to do are only just surfacing in my circle. Once upon a time, we'd at least start talking about it a month or two ahead of time. Almost every year, someone wound up having a house party they'd be everyone's hero.

When I was much younger, I had 2 best friends and we rotated who's house we'd hang out each year. It was always where the parents wouldn't be, of course. Those were some of the best nights because there was no need to dress up, arrange for transportation, find a date, or shell out lots of cash to spend it with strangers. We'd order in pizza and have lots of junk food, play records/tapes, listen to the top 100 songs of the year on the radio and dance. Ok, so maybe we'd sneak into my parents' liquor cabinet, too. Just plain, simple silliness and it was great.

I've done the "city" NYE, the house parties, and even one alone with Dick Clark which wasn't half as bad as I expected it to be. The main thing about the night isn't where you go or what you do but who you're with (and maybe how wasted you are). This year, there are a couple of ideas in the works but I raise these questions to my readers (maybe I have 4 or 5 now?):

What are you planning for this year and/or what was your favorite NYE?

Oh, Squinty...

At Age 69, Vermeil May Be Near a Last Run EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Dec. 14 - Dick Vermeil has walked away from two head-coaching jobs in the National Football League, and neither exit came off the way he would have liked.

Not sure why, but ever since I started watching football last season I’ve had a thing for Dick Vermeil whom I refer to as Squinty. No, you pervs, not that kind of thing! I can’t explain it really, just some thing about his persona qualified him for a nickname. Go figure.

If You Read This, You Will Have Sex

If You Read This, You Will Have Sex Hello. I'm Eugene. by Eugene Mirman
I understand that advertising has to make it seem like buying a product will give you two things: the product itself (it has to, legally) and all of your fantasies coming true. That's the price we pay for finding happiness from a cereal or car. Sometimes though, ads can be so overbearingly aggressive and sexual that it's a bit much. There's a number of Budweiser ads on the subway that give the impression that hot multi-racial couples are going to put beers in each others asses. But the ad does it's job—it makes me want chill out at a bar with a Bud, partially for the taste, but mostly to send the signal that if you hang with me, I'll put a beer in your ass.

Do yourself a favor and read the rest of this guy's post. It reminded me of a commercial I saw the other night for a mattress retailer. The ad seemed overly suggestive and I thought that maybe it was a parody... after all, it was on Comedy Central. It was just a young woman bouncing up and down, as if on a mattress but in slow motion. I only wish I could remember the voice-over copy. My friend & I looked at each other as if to say "Did you see that? Are they serious?". Since their motto requires you to trust them for the rest of your life, it was strange for them to go the risque "have more fun in bed" route. I'm not being a prude, I'm just saying...

Has anyone else seen this?

Words of warning

A fellow blogger's post that I happened to find interesting (From Thursday, 12/8).

Looks good, don't it?

I would like to take this opportunity to thank an extremely talented man for taking the time to greatly improve the look of my blog. It should be noted that he is one of those people who, when they like do something, generally go above and beyond the call of duty. All I wanted was a nicer logo/header for the blog and soon it was a project. Even though he was tired, had a headache, and it was very late for a "school night"...he slaved away looking for the perfect fonts, colors, effects and a star for my bullets. I guess now I'll have to get him something besides that lump of coal for Christmas.

News from Malta

Horses cannot wear diapers, court says VALLETTA (Reuters) - Regulations to control horse dung in the streets by forcing horse owners to tie bags under horses constituted cruelty to the animals, a Maltese court has ruled.
The bags, popularly known as nappies, were ordered under 2002 regulations to stop the horses from fouling the streets, but owners never enforced them and 60 of them took the government to court. A magistrate found the nappies to breach the Animal Welfare Act after vets explained that a horse's tail had to be kept free to swat flies, the Malta Times reported.

.xxx

Decision on sex domain postponed WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The group that oversees Internet domain sites has again postponed a decision on a controversial ".xxx" domain for sex sites, the head of the organization said Monday.

Backers have said the domain would allow people to easily avoid sex sites if they don't want to visit them, but conservative groups like the Family Research Council say it would only lead to an increase in online porn and legitimize the industry.

Erotic moments from Bible...

Erotic moments from Bible... BERLIN (Reuters) - A German Protestant youth group has put together a 2006 calendar with 12 staged photos depicting erotic scenes from the Bible, including a bare-breasted Delilah cutting Samson's hair and a nude Eve offering an apple.

Scandalous!

Jack's Back, Baby!!!

I would like it to be noted that I watch a heck of lot less television than I used to. But I do have one must-not-miss-one-single-episode show that I love and that's "24". Sure some of the story lines are far-fetched and the IT guys solve everything but hitting ctrl+shift+F9 but so what?! Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, is the man! No one is his equal as he is Superman without the cape. Well, that being said, the Season Five starts with a 2-day, 4-hour premiere on Sunday, January 15th and Monday, the 16th at 8pm.

It'll be good to see returning characters like Tony, Chloe, Edgar, and Curtis but I have to admit that I'm especially looking forward to a certain new addition to the cast. One by the name of Sean Astin. That's right, Samwise Gamgee will be part of "24" this season! Will he be good? Will he be bad? Will he last more than a couple of episodes? Guess we'll have to tune in to find out.

ah, to have my Cake...

Unlimited Sunshine Tour will be held in January in selected cities. ln addition to CAKE, Gogol Bordello, Tegan & Sara and Eugene Mirman will perform.
One night only in NYC on January 20th.

Also, CAKE will be performing on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight. Check your local listings.

Just to see if anyone's reading...what's your favorite Cake tune?

Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky...

Senate Summons Pentagon to Explain Effort to Plant News Stories in Iraqi Media WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 - The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee summoned top Pentagon officials to a closed-door session on Capitol Hill on Friday to explain a reported secret military campaign in Iraq to plant paid propaganda in the Iraqi news media. The White House also expressed deep concerns about the program.

Army Officer Charged in Iraq Investigation A United States Army officer was charged yesterday with smuggling hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen cash from Iraq and using some of it to buy machine guns, grenade launchers and other illegal arms that were later found in a garage in North Carolina. He is the third person to be arrested in a widening investigation by a special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.

Rights Group Lists 26 It Says U.S. Is Holding in Secret Abroad ROME, Dec. 1 - Human Rights Watch has released a list of 26 "ghost detainees" it says are being held incommunicado by the United States at secret foreign prisons.