I took advantage of the "Relative of Government Worker Rule" and was on sabbatical today. Gale and I headed over to Johnny Mango for their holiday brunch. I spent $9.00 on orange juice. Let me say that again, I spent $9.00 on orange juice. Who knew a large was $4.50? Not I. But I had an excellent breakfast quesadilla that hit the spot. The interesting thing was that we got to read "Martha" and "The View" on the closed captioning. Working during the day prevents me from watching these shows. All I can say is, "Wow".

On "Martha", a fashion designer used the word "whimsy" twice. In one sentence. Whimsy is a fine word, but used rarely. I may say it once every eight months or so, but never on the same day and certainly never in the same sentence.

The main story on "The View" was Britney Shears. Her haircut was described as "self-mutilation" at one point. The typical "cry for help" was thrown about, as well. Jeezy creezy, the chick got a buzz, leave her alone. It grows back, I think.

Meal of Links

The closed captioning trained me for later, as my Dad treated me to the Clint Eastwood epic, "Letters From Iwo Jima". Yes, we had to read this. It's long, but I thought it was very good. It's the story of Iwo Jima from the Japanese viewpoint. Boy, they took that fight to the end business seriously as 7,000 Americans and 20,000 Japanese were killed there. The title comes from letters that were unearthed at Iwo Jima during an archaeological dig in 2005. Not sure about the vailidity of that, but it sets the tone for some intense storytelling. Plus, we got war stuff going on. Excellent filmmaking.

The Michelin Man drops some LBs. Maybe for a new bobblehead?

The NBA used its All-Star Game as a test run in Las Vegas to see if a franchise could work there. Seems it may take only $6 million to solve the gambling issue.

Exercise Yard















Mark Martin got hosed in yesterday's Daytona 500. He's also the classiest guy in the sport, so we probably won't hear much from his camp. Hey, I loved the finish and Kevin Harvick's Fantasy Points that I got, but in a week where NASCAR was really stressing rules compliance, it violated one of its major rules. A wreck, no matter where it is located, results in an immediate yellow flag, and you don't race to the start/finish line. That's been on the books for 4 years. Martin is ahead of Harvick when that final lap crash takes place, as the picture shows. End of story.

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43 Across: He played President Merkin Muffley in "Dr. Strangelove" (12 letters) Answer: Peter Sellers