Well, Halloween is coming soon. Last weekend, Kazuko and I went to our friends' house (Larry and Kelly Poppler) for a Halloween party. Kazuko dressed up as an Asian lady beetle, and I dressed up as Ozzy Osbourne. I will have some photos up on my website as soon as they're ready. My wife and I aren't very prolific photo takers, so who knows how long it'll take to finally get them developed. That roll should also have some shots of my family, Maxim and Inna (from Ekaterinburg) singing k...

It seems that the news outlets in the US are going wall-to-wall with the capture of Saddam Hussein. That was a surprise, wasn't it? (Didn't Hussein look like Ted Kaszynsky upon capture?) Of course with the coverage, there is the obligitory footage of people firing guns into the air in celebration. I'll tell you what: I really don't think that's a good way to celebrate. It is bad for the hearing of the onlookers, as well as dangerous for whoever may be in the path of the bullet as it falls...

One of the most heavily discussed issues on the radio over the past week was a recent decision by Target Stores to not allow Salvation Army "Bell Ringers" to stand in front of their stores. According to Target, this is part of a general "no solicitation" policy. A few groups locally have been voicing their opposition to the move by Target. The company is being accused of violating "the spirit of Christmas." (Regardless of Target's massive charitable donations.) Please... I for one w...

Among the bigger news stories recently was that of the apparently falsified documents pertaining to President Bush's National Guard service. This general who decided to create these documents made the mistake of not using an actual typewriter to create (re-create?) them. I wonder: if one is going to perpetrate a hoax, wouldn't he try harder than that?  I mean, that's a pretty big mistake.  Considering the recent "forensics boom," I'd doubt that anyone wouldn't "try harder" t...

This morning as I was reading the newspaper, I saw that there is a class-action lawsuit being processed in California against U-Haul. This all stems from U-Haul's practice of accepting "reservations" for moving vans (over the phone and internet) regardless of whether or not there actually is a truck available at a given location. As a matter of fact, I was burned by this myself last year.  I had arranged for a group of friends to help me one Saturday morning, and we wer...

Background information: a two-month bus drivers' strike has recently ended in the Minneapolis/ Saint Paul Metro area. A headline on the front page of the (4/30/04) Minneapolis newspaper reads: "Police caution against making link to ridership. Some crime ebbed during strike ." In the article, we learn that the number of crime reports had fallen at the Mall of America, and in both downtowns. The particular crimes which saw reductions were: narcotics sales, shoplifting, petty theft, and...

My favorite quote from 2005 comes from Roger Ebert's July 8 review of the movie "The Fantastic Four." In describing The Thing , Ebert writes: " But the Thing looks like Don Rickles crossed with Mt. Rushmore; he has a body that feels like a driveway and a face with crevices you could hide a toothbrush in. " I love that.  "...Don Rickles crossed with Mt. Rushmore;..."  Funny.

This morning as I was getting ready for work, I heard an interesting thing on the radio.  The station that I was listening to played an interview clip of former Cowboys' Wide Receiver Michael Irvin, commenting  on his recent drug-related arrest. The radio mentioned that he was found to be in possession of a crack pipe when pulled over for speeding.  (However  FOXSports referrs to it being a "marijuana pipe".)  Of course, Irvin claims that "it isn't mine, it is my bro...

In today's Minneapolis StarTribune, there is an article with the following headline: "Teachers who plug in told to pay up." The Saint Paul School District has launched a plan to require teachers with personal appliances in their classroom to pay a $25 annual fee per appliance. The summary text on the article reads: "Fearing high energy costs, the St. Paul schools want to charge workers with personal appliances $25 a year. The idea is fueling some opposition." It is understandable that ...

The recent debate in local newspapers and radio in the Twin Cities has to do with a smoking ban in bars and restaurants.  Hennepin County (where Minneapolis is located) currently has a ban on smoking in all bars and restaurants. Bar owners and pulltab-dependent charities have cried foul, as bar patrons have given up Hennepin County bars and restaurants in favor of those in neighboring counties without such restrictions.  (Bars in cities bordering other counties are claiming more sev...

I am just listening to the Jerry Springer show on the radio.  One of his topics of discussion today was a recent high school basketball game in Oklahoma.  The newsworthy event of the game was that the Earlsboro HS team beat the Hanna HS team by the score of 112-2 Ouch! Here is a link from MSNBC. The discussion on the radio has to do with how the Earlsboro coach could have prevented his team from running up the score so much.  (Putting in third-stringers, passing more, e...

As I am writing this article, I am listening to a radio report on BBC radio.  It says that due to increasing demand, oil prices may soon exceed $100 per barrel. Such a high oil price would cause a reduction in consumption, and a rush to develop alternative technologies.  Alternative technologies would presumably be more eco-friendly than those reliant on fossil fuels. (Namely oil) In a sense, market pressures could possibly drive a move toward more environmentally-protective ener...

Over the past couple of days I have caught a couple of interesting news stories coming out of China.  Every once-in-a-while, we get the chance to hear some really odd news stories from that part of the world. On Saturday I was watching an English translation of CCTV (Chinese) news.  There was a story of some government official (named Bi Yuxi, a highway official) who was convicted of accepting bribes and helping himself to around $360,000 of state funds.  A link to a stor...

Last night as I was driving home from work, I heard an interesting commercial on the radio. The commercial was done by a cable company advertising that Viacom channels have been pulled from our local satellite service. Apparently the cable industry sees this as an opportunity to regain new customers. This "conflict" intrigued me. Arriving home, I switched on the local CBS affiliate. Instead of CBS, there was a message from the CEO of the satellite company, urging us to call Viacom and...

Noticed something last night watching the election results come in: SEPARATED AT BIRTH: Failed Minnesota US Senate candidate Mark Kennedy: Former STYX frontman Dennis DeYoung:    (I wish that I had a better DeYoung "headshot", but for some reason I can't find one.)