I'm it!

Yikes! Unbeknownst to me until just a little while ago, I was tagged by Joel (who was tagged by John B.) in the latest book meme floating around the blogiverse.

Here's the dealio:

*Find the nearest book.
*Name the title and author.
*Turn to p. 123.
*Post sentences 6-8.
*Tag 3 more people.

And it so happens that I received a raft of new reading material for Christmas, and the first book I started was Medici Money: Banking, Metaphysics and Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence by Tim Parks.

Here are sentences 6-8 from p. 123:

On the matter of San Marco, the pope again proved flexible. The Silvestrines were evicted. The rigid Dominicans were moved in from Fiesole.

So, who to tag next. This could be tough since most of my friends don't know how to read. But...

• Amy
• Randall
• Lee

Consider yourselves tagged.

tagged: book, meme, Medici, renaissance, tag

A lump of coal for Christmas

I understand where Delaware's coming from. I get what New York is saying. I totally dig the sentiments of Maine.

But I think if I were Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, I would tell them all to STFU!

Those three states, along with Connecticut, California, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, have called out Sebelius, and by extension Kansas, in the National Media for plans to build three coal-fired power plants in western Kansas.

They have condescendingly urged Sebelius to "ban" the construction of the plants, which locals think will provide as many as 2,000 construction jobs and an economic expansion.

Frankly, coal-powered plants seem a bit antiquated to me. I'm no expert on power generation (except for natural gas generation after a night of Mexican food), but it seems like building a coal-fired plant is sort of like starting a company to sell 8-track tape players.

But I find the condescending meddling by east-coast and west-coast hypocrites to be extremely off-putting. Hey New York, what about all the pollution you're causing (and I'm not just talking about cultural pollution). Launch any garbage barges lately?

Hey California, why not look into the 140,000 metric tons of ozone and diesel particulates put out by Hollywood each year. Hey Maine, try not fishing the Atlantic to death sometime.

The point is everyone has their own problems to deal with. Go deal with them and let Kansas deal with Kansas' problems. Is there a polite way to say mind your own damn business?

Either way, Sebelius is likely to "ban" the new coal plants. The Kansas governor's mansion is a stepping stone for her, and she can't afford to piss off the politically powerful potential allies on the coasts.

tagged: Kansas, California, New York, pollution, Kathleen Sebelius, coal, environmentalist

Survey Says... Future me

I'm not sure what to make of this...

If You Were Born in 2893...

Your Name Would Be: Anass Rhammar And You Would Be: A Feared Warrior

If You Were Born in 2893

tagged: blog, survey, meme, future, humor

More nerd humor

There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

tagged: humor, joke, math, nerd

Kansas City Penguins?

Eric Duhatschek has a column in the Globe Mail discussing the possibility of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team relocating to Kansas City.

The scenario where the Penguins absolutely stay and survive in Pittsburgh requires that the Isle Of Capri — and not two other suitors — end up with the slots license.

If not, then all bets are off; and the Penguins could be on the move; and if they do go, they would most likely end up in that hockey hotbed of Kansas City, Missouri.

I've been jonesing for some professional hockey since The Blades skated out of town. And this scenario would certainly solve a lot of problems for the KCMO powers that be that built an arena without a tenant.

Here's more from the column:

As a scenario, it looks startlingly similar to the flight of the Quebec Nordiques to Colorado following the 1994-95 season, when Marcel Aubut's ownership group couldn't figure out a way to get the government to pay for a new building in his city either. Denver had previously failed as an NHL town; the woeful Rockies left in the early 1980s to become the New Jersey Devils.

The second time around proved to be a charm for Denver, however, largely because the new team was an emerging NHL powerhouse, as opposed to the ridiculously mediocre expansion team they had in their first incarnation.

"Ridiculously mediocre" - Heh, that would fit right in with the Chiefs and Royals.

tagged: Kansas City, hockey, Pittsburgh, Penguins, Eric Duhatschek, NHL, Sprint Center

YouTube Tuesday: Oh good grief!

Although Christmas isn't my favorite time of year (at best, it's a distant third behind the kickoff of football season in the fall and Independence Day in the summer), I have to say that I'm a little more excited about it this year than in years past.

For one thing, this is the first time in probably 15 years that my supermodel wife and I are staying home for Christmas instead of driving all over God's creation visiting relatives.

Also, it's the first time that our four-year-old daughter is really "into" Christmas. She's trying hard to be good all the time, but because she's human (and she hasn't had much practice at that), it's difficult.

The best part of parenthood is seeing the world through your kid's eyes. Lately, we've been watching all of the old classic animated Christmas shows on TV. This takes me back to my childhood, while allowing me to experience the holidays anew with my daughter.

And then, we see this week's YouTube Tuesday entry. What a great piece of creativity, melding a classic Christmas cartoon with one of the best comedies on TV today in Scrubs.

It appears that this was created especially by the writers and actors of Scrubs (the voices are genuine) for their Christmas party. And thanks to the magic of YouTube and the interwebs, we get to enjoy it today.

Merry Christmas!



tagged: movie, YouTube, video, Charlie Brown, Christmas, pop culture, Scrubs, family

Survey Says... just your average joe

You Are 60% "Average American"

You are average because you don't make New Year's resolutions. You are not average since you have (at least) a college degree.

How "Average American" Are You?

tagged: survey, meme, average, American

TV Moment of the Week

I know, I know, some people consider the SNL sketch of the "D--k in a Box" to be the best clip of the week. But to me, it's a little low-brow, a little too easy.

No, I have to give the nod of TV Moment of the Week to a barbershop quartet explaining to Peter Griffin how a vasectomy works. Funny and educational...



tagged: movie, YouTube, video, Family Guy, vasectomy, Peter Griffin, pop culture, barbershop quartet

Circle gets the square

Not feeling very inspired lately, so I'm going back to Europe (figuratively, not literally unfortunately).

Here's a pic I shot during our last trip to Paris in 2001 (pre-Sept. 11). I love Paris in the springtime.



Your comments and critiques are welcome.

tagged: Paris, France, Place de la Concorde, photo, travel, culture

Liberty tour

There have been lots of rave reviews lately about the recently re-opened Liberty Memorial and the National World War I museum.

I haven't had a chance to visit since it reopened (although I was impressed with the museum when I visited it before all of the expansion and renovation), but it is definitely high up on my to do list for my upcoming Christmas vacation.

But until that vacation gets here in a couple of weeks, I found this link that I wanted to share. It's a video montage produced by Take2 productions in KC. Check it out.

(You'll have to click the image, since T2's website didn't include embed code. Follow the links on the T2 page to Work>Longform>click the Liberty Memorial pic. C'mon T2, get with the program!).



tagged: Kansas City, Liberty, Memorial, World War I, WWI,museum, history, video