Where Is Jim Henson When You Need Him?

Take six minutes out of your life to understand just how screwed up some people are. That girl can't be older than 13.

Some Days this Stuff Just Writes Itself

Lightning strikes the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro

Movie Reviews

The Wife and I recently dropped about US$100 on DVDs at Target (yeah, it's a lot, but we haven't bought any new flicks in a while AND we've been very good cash-wise this month). I got the remastered release of the original Transformers movie from 1986. We watched it the other night over popcorn and rioja. As The Wife pointed out, "it's just laser beams and power chords--there's no plot at all."

HELL, yeah.

Even better is the voice work: Peter Cullen (the movie announcer dude), Orson Welles (as the voice of a planet, natch), and even Judd Nelson (that dude is harsh!).

Last night we watched _Mr. and Mrs. Smith_ followed by _Los Increibles_, which was fun. We were apparently both jonesing for some stuff-blows-up. It wasn't until this morning that I realized we had spent the whole night watching movies that encouraged solving marital problems via explosions.

Solving the Homelessness Problem

Homelessness Urban outdoorsmanship has become a significant problem in post-Katrina N'awlins. Folks living under bridges have started to form neighborhood watches. But in nearby Jefferson* Parish a very pragmatic approach has been taken: They're knocking down the bridges. That's right, folks. The Causeway overpass at Jefferson Davis* Highway overpass is no more, as traffic is rerouted around a major condominium construction project. I was going to take a picture and post it, but I'm lazy.

*That's President Davis to y'all.

How 'Bout Them, Indeed

For those of you who don't know ('cos you're living in a cave and don't have any cable or internet access...wait a minute...) the New York Giants have defeated the much-despised New England Cheating Bastards, preventing people with really irritating Bahston accents from gloating about their team until the end of time. For this, I am grateful. So grateful, in fact, that I will defect from my usual Giant-mocking stance and officially declare myself a (fair-weather) Giants fan...at least until the next pre-season starts.

So I raise a glass to Alex, Marty, Gloria, Melman, and all those militant Penguins on the defensive line. All hail the New York Giants!

Discussion Question--Education Edition

Here's a question I've been kicking around for a while:

What minimum qualifications should a high-school graduate posess? I'm not talking about specialized college prep or vo-tech training, just basic skills that every budding adult should have.

Here's some ideas to get the ball rolling.

A graduate from a US high school should be able to:

--Balance a checkbook;
--Read and understand a typical newspaper article;
--Write a coherent letter to the editor;
--Plan and cook a week's worth of healthy meals;
--Perform basic hygiene of person and clothing;
--Run a continuous mile.

What else do y'all think is important?