Thursday Roundup

Yes, it's another roundup. I just have too many odds and ends to tie up the past couple of days!

R.I.P. Les Paul. Without you, the music that I love so much would not exist.

Dan of The Wisdom of a Distracted Mind gets one of the Silver Squirrel awards for knowing that the no brown rats in the Alice Cooper python's bowl of rats was in reference to Van Halen's infamous tour rider, in which they specified that in their backstage bowls of M&M's, there were to be no brown ones. Ahhh, spoiled rock stars! Don't you just want to smack 'em? A few others had the correct answer, but Dan was the first.

Still no winner on the question about the TV miniseries. A couple of people did give the correct answer, but one admitted that she Googled it, and the other admitted that he saw her answer. (Both get an Honorable Mention for their honesty.) In light of that, I am throwing out that question, and the Silver Squirrel will ride again another day. The correct answer was "The Stand," the TV miniseries based on Stephen King's book of the same name. I don't think the critics liked it much, but I enjoyed it. I just wish it could have been gorier. They're doing a theater remake of "It," so I wish they'd do one of "The Stand." I'd love to see what they could do with it in a theatrical remake.

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I thought about reposting my entry about health care in its entirety, but I decided to just link to it. I wrote this back in January, and I still stand completely by the opinions I wrote of back then. Even the part about not wanting a national health care system. There are plenty of people who are happy with their health insurance. The concern is those who cannot afford it, and that's why I support a public option. (Key word there: OPTION.) Besides, the reality is that a bill with a national health care system would never get passed. Why push for something that has no chance of success? That's the pragmatic side of me.

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Thanks for the feedback on the suspicious Craigslist email. I think I was right to trust my instinct. The people who came to look at it last night bought it, so I took the ad down immediately. Now I don't have to worry about it.

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Sheeba caught another mouse last night. It seems that our basement has turned into freakin' Disney World, and there are meeces everywhere, but I guess that's to be expected out in the country. I'm glad Sheeba is such a good mouser, and he got lots of praise and treats for his efforts. Good boy!

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I got to see my folks today when they stopped by and gave us another loaf of raisin bread [grin] and dropped off a bag full of--get this--empty journals. There was a big sale at a store they stopped at a while back, and they went back and got me a bunch. I'm still trying to decide what to do with them. Stay tuned....

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We got an email from our friend Kimberley, and it looks like her and Steve are on for Florida next year! Yippee! I'm already thinking about cookouts and taking them to our favorite places...they'll love the manatees! Especially Steve, because he's a science teacher and marine biologist who always takes his students on a field trip to the Monterey Aquarium. I will calm down about this pronto, since it's almost an entire year away. I was just really happy to hear that they can join us next year!

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Tonight I'm channeling New Orleans as I serve muffulettas for dinner. I'm not sure what made me crave them, but my mouth is already watering, and we're a couple of hours away from dinner! Muffulettas are big sandwiches with ham, salami, cheese, and olive salad. I made the olive salad this afternoon by chopping up black and green olives and a jar of giardiniera. The ones I make can't compare to Central Grocery's, but they're still pretty tasty!