I've been Simpsonized!

Burger King is employing a shameless promotion trying to generate website traffic. Guess what? It sure worked in my case! I've been Simpsonized! And so has my entire household. That's Esme, Hannah, Meredith, Teilo and Taran, all as Simpson cartoon characters: As Bart would say, AWESOME, DUDE!

Someone stole my girls' little red wagon last night

Whoever stole it actually moved stuff out of the way to get it off of my porch, and then emptied it's contents on the neighbors lawn. So, if you see a red wagon with wooden sides around town looking lonely and forlorn, please give me a heads up, so I can chase it down.

My new firm sets a new record in Oakland County

Jury gives victim's kin $35 Million. Looks like my move was a good one.

Your chance to support solar power in Ypsi

My friend and neighbor, Dave Strenski, has been working overtime trying to get his solar power project approved to turn Ypsi City Hall into what could be a pilot project for city halls all over Michigan. Trouble is, it costs money. Thankfully, Murph has set up a pledge bank. For just $50, you can be an integral part of this project. What's even better, your pledge is virtually risk free. If too few people pledge, you don't have to pay. If enough people pledge (at least 200), we're virtually guaranteed that the project will move forward. Strenski is working on getting the critical approvals right now. What are you waiting for? Pledge this minute by clicking here.

The Golden Compass

In case you've been living in a cave, or at the bottom of the ocean, or perhaps on a deserted island, then you may not have heard that Philip Pullman's book, The Golden Compass, is coming to the big screen. I am a huge fan of this series of books, and I can't wait to see my favorite characters come to life. Lyra, Lord Asriel, lorek Byrnison (a polar bear) and Lee Scoresby will embark on a great adventure, no doubt, and I'm hoping this first one will be just the beginning. Here's the trailer: For the uninitiated, in Lyra's world, each person is accompanied through life by their own daemon. This daemon is the person's soul, and it always takes the shape of an animal. It can never stray far from the person it is paired with. A child's daemon can take many forms, but as the child ages, the daemon assumes one form and ceases to change. Below is my daemon (that I got from The Golden Compass' wonderful web site). You can click on the image and answer a short questionnaire to see if my daemon is really the best one for me. I'm presuming that my daemon will change as others answer the short questionnaire, as I have no clue whatsoever how that "modest" got there. I must have answered at least one question wrong . . . ;)

I was taken into custody last Tuesday evening . . .

By the Police. They came to the Palace of Auburn Hills, and they were spectacular. Sting was in top form, his voice sounding almost the same as it did 20+ years ago on blockbuster records like Synchronicity, Ghost in the Machine and The Police. I was impressed by how many hits of my youth The Police were responsible for, and I don't think I would have realized their influence on contemporary music had I not heard them all at once during this concert. They played pretty much every hit. As an aside, while watching the members on the big screen, I concluded that if there ever is a Police movie, Stewart Copeland should be played by Ted Danson, Andy Summers by Tim Allen, and Sting by Kiefer Sutherland. Leave your casting calls in the comments section.

Day three of the mini-vacation: Empire State Building

Before catching our plane we hopped on over the Empire State Building for our only seriously touristy thing of the weekend. We go a lot of nice pics of the city from up high, like this one of downtown. There were these lightning rod devices, and one of them must have gotten struck with a bird sitting on it. You could see the charred remains stuck to the plate. And we even paid a bit more to go up in the small, round thing at the top, some 20 floors higher than the observation deck. We got some really great shots from both vantage points. Here's a couple of midtown with shots of the Chrysler Building, followed by another of midtown: Then it was off to the airport, and we were homeward bound once again. What a great trip!

Power . . . Out . . . Hot . . . Outside . . . Hot . . . Inside

The one day of the year on which I most needed electricity, with temperatures hovering in the mid-90s, the power died when the transformer next to my house blew. So, off to the swim club we went. And we had a wonderful time. Only the power wasn't on when we got home. So, off to Meier's I went, to purchase a generator, with which I wired a back-feed into the electrical enclosure to run the fridge, a few lights, and a few fans. And it worked like a charm! Then, about 11:15 P.M., the DTE crews pulled up into the alley with their big, diesel trucks and their chain saws, trimming branches, hoisting parts, and fixing the problem by about 3:00 A.M., a mere 12 hours after the power initially went off. Now, the house is livable again, despite the fact that temps will be in the mid-90s again today.

NYC: Day Two

While I attended the seminar that brought me to town, Meredith hit the town. We met around dinner time and dined with Annie and her husband, Adam, at Picket Fences in the Ditmas Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, near where they live. Dinner was out of this world, and I had a delightful Brooklyn Brewery Lager along with my South Carolina pulled pork. We left Annie and Adam shortly after dinner and rode the subway to Coney Island. Upon our arrival, we first rode the Cyclone, a historic roller coaster. It was a fast, jerky ride that was a riot. I absolutely loved it, as did Meredith. We also went up in the spinning tower and got some great pics of the amusement park from above. Meredith was anxious to touch the Atlantic Ocean, so we ventured out on the beach toward the water. She waded on in, and let me snap a couple of pictures. We went on the Wonder Wheel next, which has unique cars that ride on little tracks inside the ferris wheel, so the rider can swing forward at different points of the circle as it goes around. It was quite a lot of fun. We also rode on the very silly haunted house ride, which begins with a greeting from this guy: And, of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't fess up and let you know I was chicken to go on this: By the way, that's Meredith in the lower leftmost seat! We were lucky to have this chance, since Astroland (which makes up 1/2 of the park--the other half is the Wonder Wheel park) was sold last year and will be closed at the end of the summer. So, if you haven't been, now's you're chance, and it may be your last chance! As an attraction, the park was a great deal of fun, and it exemplified the melting pot that is New York. People from all walks of life, speaking different languages, with small children, with the elderly--you name it--were all enjoying themselves, and tourists were almost nowhere to be found that time of night. After all the fun, we were exhausted. We took the train back to our hotel, and got a good night's sleep to rest up for our sojourn to the Empire State Building!

"New York is my city, California is your city . . . "

He said it with an edge to his voice. It was apparent that he was trying to mess with her head, but the extent to which he was succeeding was impeded by what came across as a general lack of intelligence and tact. "You're wrong, you're always f---ing wrong," he exclaimed. "This is my city." The man in the dark suit with the thick New York accent was doing most of the talking. Every once in a while, the woman--sans accent--would toss a few unintelligible, half-hearted words into the mix. At that point, Meredith suggested that we perhaps move to another table. I, however, was fascinated by the inane conversation that seemed to go on and on, its pointlessness obvious to everyone except those engaged in it. Samir, our waiter, would intervene now and then, blessing us with his thick but delightful Middle Eastern accent, asking if we wanted another drink. Ironically, after about an hour, the couple left together. We were at the time sitting at the View, a revolving lounge and restaurant at the top of the Times Square Marriott with an incredible view of mid-town Manhattan. Earlier in the day, upon our arrival in New York City, we had dined at the historic Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station. After about an hour rotating around a 360-degree view of midtown, we called Meredith's sister Annie. As we were on the phone suggesting that we meet and walk over the Brooklyn Bridge together, another New Yorker paused as she walked by. "I live in New York, and you do not want to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on foot at night," she said. The moon over the Brooklyn Bridge was stunning. After riding the subway to the stop at its foot, we began the long trek across the bridge surrounded by walkers, joggers, bicyclers, and college students. It was about as dangerous as Macy's on a Saturday afternoon. As we walked, Annie and Meredith conversed and I smoked a cigar. The evening was cool and comfortable, and the view was spectacular. After walking the span of the bridge, we hopped on the subway on the other side and returned to the Grand Hyatt, just a few steps away from historic Grand Central Station. We ducked into the lounge for a nightcap, and went to bed exhausted but content. And that was just the first evening! More to come as time permits . . .

Scooter's Independence Day

Yesterday, Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence for obstructing justice and lying to a grand jury for the purpose of covering up a retaliatory leak of the identity of a covert, CIA operative who also happened to be a political enemy. This effectively imposes little more than a fine that will likely be paid by not by Libby, but instead by wealthy Republican donors. I guess it's not all that surprising, given Libby's history of loyal service to his former boss, Dick Cheney. Of course, the comedic media frenzy of last few weeks provides the starkest of backdrops to this stunning miscarriage of justice. In a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction drama too over-the-top for even a paperback thriller to convincingly pull off, Paris Hilton actually did time for driving on a suspended license, was released on house arrest, and then did time again after the judge got pissed off at the Sheriff who let her go out of concern for her own well being. Yep, that's right. Paris Hilton did more time for driving on a suspended license than Scooter Libby will do for obstructing a federal investigation with national security implications. And in case you were wondering, the penalty in Virginia for serving teenagers beer and wine at a birthday party (something that is a routine occurrence in the countries of most of our European war allies), is 27 months in prison. Coming from a President who as Governor of Texas presided over more executions than any other in modern times, and who actually mocked the first woman executed in Texas in over 100 years, I remain skeptical of Bush's preposterous justification for letting go this particular crook.