Blogging Christmas

THE Christmas gift -- I got the Creative Zen Nano Plus MP3 player -- rated a best buy by Cnet and PC World. One gig of solid state memory, FM tuner and voice recorder. Can record directly from a CD player. Bite me, Apple.

We got one for my daughter too.

Also got some CDs -- new Alterbridge, King's X two-disk live set, and an earlier disk by Pillar. And I got the Eric Clapton Autobio.

Also shirts, calendars and stuff.

Bought my bride a GPS -- Garmin Streetpilot C550 -- TFT screen, points of interest, traffic reports, auto-rerouting, and it speaks street names.

A very Merry Christmas.

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

This is really excellent. Merry Christmas.

Fred Thompson: Kill, Protect, Punch

I love this. Kind of an anti "Obama Girl" video.

Anyone know what song that is and who it's by?

Twisted Sister - Oh Come All Ye Faithful

You know, I used to think it was a good idea when bands did Christmas records.

Oh well -- at least it ends happily.

Dan Fogelberg

Media reporting the death of Dan Fogelberg at 56, from prostate cancer.

He was often derided in the 70s and 80s as a soft-rock pioneer, but I thought he was a talented singer-songwriter who successfully melded rock, folk and country styles.

Get your PSA tests every year, boys -- particularly if you're over 45.

New Studwagon Mk IV

The new car for the kids arrived last week -- 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Only 80,000 miles, two owners.

For those who haven't been following the thriling saga, the Studwagon Mark III (1995 Oldsmobile 88 Royale) is no more -- the Boy Genius totaled it on the way home from school about two months ago. I was sick for a month.

But onward we go. I was originally looking for something like a Camry or an Accord, but was coming up dry.

Then last weekend when the weather got greasy I was thinking how handy it would be to have another four-wheel drive-capable vehicle around the house, and stumbled on this.

Checked it out after church Sunday, pulled the VIN -- ran it through Carfax and it came back clean -- test drove it and said "don't wrap it, I'll eat it here."

The thing is loaded -- power everything, leather seats, cool sound system (back speakers are blown though), moonroof.

Nicer than my first car. Nicer than my second car.

Uh, nicer than my third car.

We had to destroy the environment to save it...

In the "do as I say, not as I do" department, More Than 10,000 Jet Into Bali For Global Warming Conference.

"Nobody denies this is an important event, but huge numbers of people are going, and their emissions are probably going to be greater than a small African country," said Chris Goodall, author of the book "How to Live a Low-Carbon Life."

The U.N. estimates 47,000 tons of carbon dioxide and other pollutants will be pumped into the atmosphere during the 12-day conference in Bali, mostly from plane flights but also from waste and electricity used by hotel air conditioners.

If correct, Goodall said, that is equivalent to what a Western city of 1.5 million people, such as Marseilles, France, would emit in a day.

Parking place

for this photo

Loafin'

New loafers. Rockport Espolitos, in 11W.

Com-fort-a-ble.

Like walking on air.

Overused: Keeping it real

I don't actually know if that's "overused," because I've never actually heard a real person say it.

So perhaps it should be in NOT to be used.

Saying "keeping it real" isn't.