Eudyptes cuteness, courtesy of outlanderssc and baaaaabyanimals:

Put us down! We gots some rockhoppin' to do!

Today's my last day at Weis. Bittersweet. I bet I cry....

Why is the Muzak in my grocery store playing King of Pain? I don't think that's going to drive sales anyplace but away!

Kinda sad. They're taking down the Christmas lights in downtown Laurel. Party's over....:(

He's on his way! NORAD tracked Santa lifting off from the North Pole! Yippee!

I hope I get a pony.

Remember folks, you read it here first.

woofiegrrl is geeking about her new iPod and how she's going to pimp it out. I'm trying to do laundry which involves going from my Fortress of Solitude on the second floor down into the Mines of Moria (sorry about the mixed metaphor) every so often to fiddle with the washer and dryer. I've also got an online Christmas music radio station playing on my computer upstairs (WPOC -- yes it's country. If my daughter can listen to Michael J, then I can listen to Faith Hill and George Strait.) But I can't hear the online music when I go downstairs. Hmmmm. Combine all that in what's left of my brain these days and here's what you get:

An mp3 player that can pick up Internet radio stations via WiFi. Hell, might as well add HD radio too, while we're at it.

I'm sure Steve Jobs will be adding that in the next version of the iPod ... right after he adds an FM tuner.

Yeah, right.

I've got dial tone again! Yee Haw! So I've got DSL! Yipee!

And I've stopped puking up my guts! Hooray!

But now I've got to leave for work....

Crap.

Oh, well. Two out three ....

Off work tonite. Think I got mild food poisoning at the store Xmas party @ Greene Turtle last nite. Polonium 210 burger probably bad idea. Back to bed now.

I actually did hear this song at the grocery store where I work ... once.  About an hour after the store closed. Haven't heard it since, and I spend a LOT of time at work; enough time to hear the Muzak track loop and start playing the same songs over again.

Perhaps it's because the words of the song lead one to believe that Christmas isn't found in any of the boxes on the shelves...and can never be taken away. Not even by the Grinch.

For lots of reasons, this is my favorite Christmas song this year.

Where Are You Christmas? by Faith Hill

( But first some generalized whining about my life... )

So I'm in a rather grumpy, un-Christmas-like mood. Fortunately, Ray Davies of The Kinks was pissed off about Christmas way before I was. Therefore, I give to you the first song you won't hear at the mall this holiday season: Father Christmas by The Kinks*



*Disclamer: You actually might hear this song in certain parts of the mall this year. Specifically, the movie theater part. A pretty good cover of it by OK Go (of dancing on treadmills fame) is in the new movie Unaccompanied Minors. A good try, but the requisite "punkness" just isn't quite there for me. Maybe after a couple more hours on the treadmills, except in hot, wool Santa suits this time ....

Mmmmm boy! Turkey day! My favorite part is when everybody gathers around the ravaged turkey carcass like vultures around a wildebeest on the African savanna and sings those old favorite Thanksgiving carols, like this one:


or this one:


and of course, who can forget this classic?



Ummm...OK. So, why aren't there Thanksgiving carols, anyway? Couldn't the Pilgrims sing?

Every 18 minutes someone in the US dies of suicide.

Every 19 minutes someone is left to make sense of it.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
National Suicide Prevention Hotline -- 1-800-SUICIDE (784-2433)
The Bridge -- Official Movie Website

Birdwatchers flocked to see a rare swallow in Scotland - only to see it attacked and eaten by a sparrowhawk.

The red-rumped swallow, normally resident to the Mediterranean, excited twitchers when it was spotted at Lunan Bay, near Montrose.

Word that it had arrived on the East Coast of Scotland spread quickly, and a large crowd gathered to watch it flying over the beach.

The swallow's fatal mistake was to take a rest high on the roof of a nearby farm building, reports The Times.

The twitchers watched in disbelief as the sparrowhawk appeared, swooped on the swallow, crushed it with its powerful talons and flew off.

Mike Sawyer, of the Dundee branch of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: "We were horrified.

"We had just phoned local birdwatchers to tell them of this rare occurrence. Then we had to ring them back and tell them it had been eaten."

The RSPB says the red-rumped swallow is a rare visitor to the UK but occasionally turns up during the migrating season, probably having lost its way.

from Ananova

Happy Birthday Connie J. Fox-Board
11/10/1960 - 02/26/1994
I miss you.

( Always On Your Side - Sheryl Crow )

I had to work Halloween night (gee, what a shock ... what holiday haven't I had to work on?) So I sorta went in costume. I say sorta, because I wasn't supposed to be anyone in particular. I just looked different from the way I normally dress. Dress code is white shirt, dark pants, tie and company supplied vest (+5 for dorkitude). Halloween I dressed ... different. I was told I looked like a Blues Brother, a guy from Men in Black and James Bond ... none of which was even remotely true. (James Bond ... only if the viewer had had way too many martinis could I ever look like James Bond!) A guy in the deli finally came up with the right name for me.

( Meet Pimp Master Ken! )

War on Drugs
 Steven Page

She likes to sleep with the radio on
So she can dream of her favorite song
The one that no one has ever sung since she was small

She'll never know that she made it up
She had a soul and we ate it up
Thrown away like a paper cup
The music falls

The only flaw in her detailed plan
Is where she wins back the love of her man
Everyone knows that he's never coming back

He took her heart and she took his name
He couldn't stand taking all the blame
He left her only with guilt and shame and then she cracked

Won't it be dull when we rid ourselves
Of all these demons haunting us
To keep us company

In the dream I refuse to have
She falls asleep in a lukewarm bath
We're left to deal with the aftermath again

On behalf of humanity
I will fight for your sanity
How profound such profanity can be

Won't it be dull when we rid ourselves
Of all these demons haunting us
To keep us company

Won't it be odd to be happy like we
Always thought we're supposed to feel
But never seem to be

Near where I live there's a viaduct
Where people jump when they're out of luck
Raining down on the cars and trucks below

They've put a net there to catch their fall
Like it'll stop anyone at all
What they don't know is when nature calls, you go

They say that Jesus and mental health
Are just for those who can help themselves
But what good is that when you live in hell on earth?

From the very fear that makes you want to die
Is just the same as what keeps you alive
It's way more trouble than some suicide is worth

Won't it be dull when we rid ourselves
Of all these demons haunting us
To keep us company

Won't it be odd to be happy like we
Always thought we're supposed to feel
But never seem to be

Hard to admit I fought the war on drugs
My hands were tied and the phone was bugged
Another died and the world just shrugged it off

Hey everybody! Go check out my self-portrait at Mr. Picassohead.

Honest, it looks just like me.

No wonder I can't get a date....

To help set the mood for the season -- an excellent video reading of The Cremation of Sam McGee!

Halloween is almost here ....

Want some candy?

Bwahahahahaha...=koff, koff, gasp= Damn. Gotta work on that evil laugh.