Let's hear it for The Dilbert Blog

*Three* Scott Adams (Dilbert author) blog entries, each for different people. The first is for A. (more specifically, A.'s Dad, a big tennis fan.) It's an interesting (to me) story about a tennis player. Link to tennis story

Second entry - Yesterday, he asked people to submit questions about his opinions on a range of stuff. I wrote a question, and this morning he answered it. My question:

Q. What about using public funds in the rebuilding of New Orleans, specifically the areas we *know* will flood again.
A. I think the country should help disaster victims. The specific method should be an economic question where you apply a concept called “expected value.” Compare the cost of rebuilding and (especially) fortifying the levees to the cost of relocating people. Real estate in the flood zone is relatively cheap. If you can get the risk of levee failure down to say 1%, rebuilding is the best solution. I’ll spare you the math, but rebuilding in a flood zone could, under some assumptions, be the best course.

Hmmm... not exactly what I thought he'd say - but still a thoughtful answer that I can agree with. The sad thing is that no one WILL perform the "expected value" calculation in this case. (attached is a Slate article that looks at the economic aspect as well.)
Last Dilbert blog entry - Amusing look at the poor choices made by the brother of a professional athlete:

Did you hear about the guy who decided to watch his brother play in the Super Bowl instead of reporting to prison as scheduled? His sentence was increased from 6 months to 5 years for reporting late.
That’s not the funny part. The funny part is that he says it was worth it to see his brother play in the Super Bowl. Plus he got to party with Snoop Dog. I’ve heard good things about Snoop’s parties. That alone was probably worth a few months of sodomy.

YouTube - Crazy Dog

Last one today -

but DAMN - that dog is WACK.

YouTube - Real Life Simpsons Intro

"Someone went through a lot of trouble to very accurately depict the Simpsons intro with real life actors. " - Comment on YouTube

A LOT of trouble.

Wow.

write it like disaster: how to win trials and influence people

You may have been following the Moussaui case in the news, and noticed the thing about the government lawyer getting kicked off the case for going against the judges orders and giving the witnesses printed talking points. This guy got a copy of the talking points... let's peek in, shall we?

TIP SHEET FOR PROSECUTION WITNESSES
(PLEASE KEEP CONFIDENTIAL)

Use specifics whenever possible. Details help paint a story and create (or, we should hope, uphold) the image of truth. For instance, which of the two sounds more convincing to you? 1) "I seem to recall that he may have been up to something with those guys." 2) "I remember him saying, 'I plan to hijack an airplane and fly it into a building along with my co-conspirators.'" If you said the second, you're right -- note that it is filled with details, such as an actual quote, or the helpful phrase "co-conspirators" which is more specific than "those guys."

mightybear: Food for Thought

Fun little vignette about SeanJr:

If an adult ate the same meal Connor typically does (but scaled up), they'd have: 8 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 4 bananas, 4 nutrigrain fruit bars and sometimes 4 adult sized cups of yogurt with fruit for dessert.

And he's not really that big - just really big for 2.25 years old.

Drinking While Intoxicated By William?Saletan

Wha whaaaa?

Texas is busting people for "public intoxication" in bars. Undercover agents have "infiltrated" 36 bars and arrested 30 drinkers. Explanations from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission:

1) We're doing it to stop drinkers before they get in a car.

2) Even if they're not going to get in a car, maybe they'll "walk out into traffic and get run over."

3) Or maybe they'll "jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss."

4) Anyway, bars aren't exempt from laws against public intoxication.

Thanks to slate for the link.

Kids Say The Darndest Things, Episode I

So, over at EverBabe's house tonight. SeanJr is being TERRIBLY cute, with his premiere two-year-old vocabulary. I suggest you check out his blog, to read his Mom's story of his word recognition (good for 27 months, really)

But towards the end of the evening, as he was giving his good night kisses (Daddy was in the other room):

1-> He kissed mommy (on the cheek)
2-> He kissed me on the cheek
3-> He looked away, and sloooowly said "hyoooomoooooooooe"

We're both pretty sure it was just an accidential confluence of consonants and vowels, but seriously; sometimes it's harder than it should be not to laugh when you are around toddler homophobia.

PartiallyClips - Motorcyclists

Two Words:

Ouch.

Curleygirl Days: Viva Las Vegas!

EverBabe -

You might like this blog, as it contains two things important to you: traveling with toddlers, and Vegas, baby, Vegas!

Couple of amusing mispelings.

1-> Resume crossed my desk today. It said:

Adittionally, my technical writing skills are a major asset...

(oh no she di'int....)

2-> From an Ebay listing for a device that usually runs in the multiple thousands of dollars.

Su Good Eats ? Chinese New Year Bash: Roast Pork Buns

Scroll about halfway down, look at the roasted pork, and realize that I will be making this recipe very soon.


EverBabe - you are invited, of course. Anyone else, please RSVP. ;-)

Cooking 101: Add 1 Cup of Simplicity

Cute story about cooking lack of know-how. I believe in substitution & not being a slave to recipes, but seriously:

"described the kind of e-mails and calls (General Mills) gets asking for cooking advice: the person who didn't have any eggs for baking and asked if a peach would do instead, for example; and the man who railed about the fire that resulted when he thought he was following instructions to grease the bottom of the pan -- the outside of the pan."

Draw a pig personality test

Thanks, SuperMark...

{psigh} I was being so good, today, too...)

Video - Can't drive 55?

From KayRay:

"I just missed it on world news in wed night, but thanks to google video:"

part of the AJC article:

Drive 55, try to stay alive Students tempt the fates, get it on film, and
make big news

By ARIEL HART

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 03/03/06
They knew it was dangerous.
"We could have really been hurt," said one of the Atlanta college students after their
experiment. "I was pretty sure that I was doing something stupid," said
another. That may be true. But, young and brash, they had a plan.
They wanted to go the speed limit on I-285.
In four cars, on all four lanes, the students from Georgia State University and other local colleges paced the entire midmorning flow of Perimeter traffic behind them at 55 mph for half an hour. They call it "an act of civil obedience."
"I get a lot of tickets," said Andy Medlin, 20, the Georgia State student who came up with the idea. "The best way to expose the flaws in the system is by following it."
Thankfully, they survived unharmed, though much maligned. The eight students captured it all on video for a student film competition, and the five-minute piece has fired up the country this week on blogs, talk radio, and national news broadcasts.
"NPR was the first biter," said Jordan Streiff, 21, the group's experienced filmmaker
and an Asian Studies major at Georgia State. "Initially, we were going to be on
ABC's cable network and Web site, but overnight the traffic to the video spiked
so they put it on World News Tonight."

Sort of a real life "Waterboy"

follow this link

You ever have that feeling...

.. you know, that one where you just said something, and were literally trying to reel it back into your mouth as you were saying it, all the while thinking "omigodyouaren'treallysayingthatareyou?wtf!shutupshutupshutup" Like the time you realize that you shouldn't *really* have talked bad about one of your bosses' mother. Or, like, you accidentally reply-to-all for a global email, and everyone then knows how you really feel about whatever the subject matter was.

Or, like, you are filling out an automatic report online, and get an confirmation email that includes the name of the legal counsel for your company, and, in sending a worried email to your co-worker about how uncomfortable you are making yourself known to the upper level management of your company, you accidentally CC: the wrong person.

You CC: the CEO. Of your 1,300 person company.

The text of your (or, let's be honest here, *my*) message? "Well, at least the CEO wasn't included." Oh, bitter, bitter irony....

In other news: happy 300th post, Sean.