My Little iPurse

iPurse
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

As I was packing tonight, I was looking for something good to put my iPod in to protect it from the dangerous world of keys and sharp scratchy objects. I had a flash of brilliance in the shower (where all good flashes occur) that I should whip up a little case for it. Behold... the iPurse.

PS I'll take orders if anyone wants one. :)

More fun with Santa.

Uh-oh Santa
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

A little Christmas Weed

Stoned
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Stoned Owl Hides Out In Christmas Tree

KNBC-TV

SARASOTA, Fla. - A bird with a buzz found in a Florida family's Christmas tree is getting ready to go back into the wild.

The little screech owl was found in the tree, which the family had kept for five days before deciding to decorate it.

Animal control officers from Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary came to get the owl, and said they smelled a strange odor on it when they did.

"Curiously enough, the owl's feathers smelled very, very potently like marijuana," said Jeff Dering, of the sanctuary. "They examined the owl, looked at its eyes ... and the owl was, in the vernacular, stoned."

Nothing like a little monkey love for Christmas.

Monkey Love
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

'Nuff Said.

I'm a BAD BAD BAD person.

NTSB: Plane Crashed After Wing Fell Off


This is what they come up with? Ya think a plane might crash missing vital parts? Well DUH**!!


**This is not to minimize the loss of life. It is a horrible tragedy but really can the NTSB state anything MORE obvious?

Technology in the darndest places.

Technology?
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Chip on a bindi : An Indian model wears a Analog integrated circuit (IC) with intelligent charging capabillities for Lithium-ion batteries pasted on a bindi during a launch ceremony in Bangalore. (AFP)

A Victory at Last

Judge Rules Against Pa. Biology Curriculum

By MARTHA RAFFAELE, Associated Press Writer

HARRISBURG, Pa. - In one of the biggest courtroom clashes between faith and evolution since the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, a federal judge barred a Pennsylvania public school district Tuesday from teaching "intelligent design" in biology class, saying the concept is creationism in disguise.

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones delivered a stinging attack on the Dover Area School Board, saying its first-in-the-nation decision in October 2004 to insert intelligent design into the science curriculum violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

The ruling was a major setback to the intelligent design movement, which is also waging battles in Georgia and Kansas. Intelligent design holds that living organisms are so complex that they must have been created by some kind of higher force.

Jones decried the "breathtaking inanity" of the Dover policy and accused several board members of lying to conceal their true motive, which he said was to promote religion.

A six-week trial over the issue yielded "overwhelming evidence" establishing that intelligent design "is a religious view, a mere re-labeling of creationism, and not a scientific theory," said Jones, a Republican and a churchgoer appointed to the federal bench three years ago.

Let's all go to the movies!

Or stay home and watch DVD's. Regardless - here are the reviews.

* Crash - A masterfully done picture on racism in Los Angeles after 9/11. Not your typical movie - I would highly recommend this one.

* Ladder 49 - This was a decent flick, although I felt it was fairly predictable. A good evening's entertainment if nothing spectacular.

* A Lot Like Love - This was far and away the surprise winner of the set. I had expected it to be entertaining, but it was really cute and heartwarming. A great date movie!

* A Very Long Engagement - I love Audrey Tatou, and odd little French films, but this was a bit much for me. Perhaps it was the stylized retelling of the romance during World War I (complete with horrible conditions), but this one didn't do it for me.

Santarchy?

40 drunken Santas...six geese a-laying..

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Forty drunken Santas rampaged through central Auckland, stealing from stores and assaulting security guards, the New Zealand Herald reported on Sunday, in a protest against the commercialization of Christmas.

Police said some of the Santas threw beer bottles, one tried to climb the mooring rope of a cruise ship and a security guard was punched during the fracas.

"They came in, said 'Merry Christmas' and then helped themselves," convenience store staff member Changa Manakynda told the Herald, which reported the Santas also attacked a Christmas tree.

The event organizer, Alex Dyer, had warned the antics would only stop when someone was arrested, said the Herald, which linked the incident to "Santarchy."

Santarchy (www.santarchy.com) and online encyclopedia wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) record protests going back around 10 years in the United States, with participants marking Christmas in anti-commercial manner involving street theater, pranks and public drunkenness.

Police said identification was a key issue as they tried to sort out which of the 40 men and women had done what.

"With a number of people dressed in the same outfit, it was difficult for any witnesses to confirm the identity of who was doing what," Senior Sergeant Matt Rogers told Reuters.

The Human Pincushion

Got back from the doctor this morning after having gotten 4 vaccinations (for my overseas trip) and blood drawn. She persisted in putting bandaids all over me when she stuck me. I feel like a human pincushion. Whee!

Quote of the Day:

"For all our conceits about being the center of the universe, we live in a routine planet of a humdrum star stuck away in an obscure corner ... on an unexceptional galaxy which is one of about 100 billion galaxies. ... That is the fundamental fact of the universe we inhabit, and it is very good for us to understand that."

-Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)

7 Fire Engines and a Passel of Firemen

Fire!
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

You may notice something amiss about the time of posting, but nothing is wrong with your eyes. Life got a little exciting here at the apartment a bit ago when we had a full scale fire alarm. And go figure, there was ACTUALLY a fire. I think this is the most exciting thing to happen in all the 4 years I've lived here.

AMENDED: Ah yes, I learned from a fellow tenant that the MOST exciting thing to happen was this past August when a tenant OD'd and wasn't found for 3 days. Where was I? On vacation?

SAD.

'West Wing' Actor John Spencer Dies at 58

By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer

LOS ANGELES - John Spencer, who played a dedicated politico on "The West Wing" who survived a serious illness to run for vice president, died of a heart attack Friday, his publicist said. Spencer, 58, died at a Los Angeles hospital, said publicist Ron Hofmann. He would have been 59 next week.

Spencer played Leo McGarry, the chief of staff to President Jeb Bartlet ( Martin Sheen) through the first few seasons of the NBC series. In a sad parallel to life, his character suffered a heart attack that forced him to give up his White House job.

The character recovered and was picked as a running mate for Democratic presidential contender Matt Santos, played by Jimmy Smits; the campaign has been a central theme this season for the drama.

And now for something completely different.

Video Killed the Radio Star by Spoof Monkey.

If he buys you one of these, he's gonna want to get lucky.

Chicago bar serves up 950 dollar cocktail

CHICAGO (AFP) - A jeweler turned drink designer has made a splash in the Chicago bar scene with a new cocktail that costs a whopping 950 dollars.

The Ruby Red is a tangy mix of vodka, champagne, cognac, pomegranate liqueur and orange juice.

And it comes complete with a one-carat, grade-A ruby.

"We kind of were playing with an idea that someone could come in and have something to celebrate and remember the night by," said Pete Gugni, a manager at the trendy Reserve club in downtown Chicago.

Gugni said the club wanted to come up with something more memorable than opening a bottle of champagne.

"That's where the stone comes in - at the end of the night they can take it home."

Gugni spent a few years as a jeweler after he graduated from art school, but switched to managing a bar because he got bored sitting behind a desk all day.

The Big Black Box

Last night I got home around 6:30 and snuggled up with blankets on the couch and read for almost 2 hours before making dinner, chatting with friends and knitting. Not only did I get to finish my book (Memoirs of a Geisha - excellent!), but I realized something at the end of the evening.

I never turned on the big black box.

Normally the TV is always on in my apartment as background noise. I live alone, and during my chores usually I'm half watching tv, or playing something I have DVR'd. I realized at 1am when I finished reading that I had never turned the TV on the entire night that I was home. And you know? I actually felt more peaceful and calm than I had in a long time.

Nifty Technology

"The BBC reports that researchers at UIUC and the University of Amsterdam, Holland have used "emotion recognition" software to determine Mona Lisa's true emotions. The algorithm is based on a library of neutral face images of young women and determined that Mona Lisa was 83% happy and 9% disgusted." From the article: "The program, developed with researchers at the University of Illinois, US, draws on a database of young female faces to derive an average 'neutral' expression. The software uses this average expression as the standard for comparisons. The New Scientist says that software capable of recognizing emotions just by looking at photographs could lead to PCs that adjust their response depending on the user's mood."

You tell me - where did the other 8% go?

The Marble Theory

I once had a friend explain to me a very simple theory.

At the beginning of every day, you get 10 marbles. For every stupid thing you say, you lose one of your marbles. When your marbles are gone you are not allowed to say anything else until the next day.

Sometimes I wish I had a big damn marble magnet.

Failed marketing campaigns.

Planters Nuts
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

So this one isn't real, but you can find a bunch more of these little gems at DribbleGlass.com

Christmas Music - The Mortification Version

Ok so I've been going on and on about how I'm not religious and then I'm simultaneously posting Christmas songs. I realize how oxymoronic (or maybe just plain moronic) this is. But here goes, the grandmother of all religious recommendations.

Every time I hear this song in my car, I can't help it, but tears spring to my eyes. I don't believe in the spiritual part of the song, and I normally don't promote Christian groups, but I will submit today.

Today's song to check out is Christmas Shoes by Newsong.

Tis the Season to Be.... Gory?!?

Yuck!
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Macabre Christmas Display Makes Statement

By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer
Wed Dec 14, 2:35 PM ET

NEW YORK - It's usually easy to tell where a person stands in the culture wars, but whose side is someone on when his Christmas decor is a blood-spattered Santa Claus holding a severed head?

Joel Krupnik and Mildred Castellanos decked the front of their Manhattan mansion this year with a scene that includes a knife-wielding 5-foot-tall St. Nick and a tree full of decapitated Barbie dolls. Hidden partly behind a tree, the merry old elf grasps a disembodied doll's head with fake blood streaming from its eye sockets.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Krupnik explained that his family thought it would be a fun way to make a comment about the commercialization and secularization of Christmas.

A Musical Interlude

Stille Nacht Kapelle
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

I take a brief semi-break from Christmas music to discuss the concert, which ROCKED.

Not only was BNL's performance amazing, they included a children's chorus for the first few songs, and sang a variety of Christmas tunes including Steven Page's tour de force performance of Silent Night, and a great new version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (sans Sarah McLachlan because she couldn't make it).

They also performed two of my favorite songs of all time: The Old Apartment and Break Your Heart.

P.S. Extra credit to those who recognize the picture. It is of the Stille Nacht Kapelle, or literally the Silent Night Chapel in Oberndorf, Austria. This tiny chapel is the memorial site for the old favorite which was first heard nearby in 1818. This photo isn't mine (thanks Google!) but I have been there!

Addiction.

Addiction is a terrible thing. I hereby declare myself:

A
D
D
I
C
T O P
E -- L I T E R A T I
D -- A
- -- Y
- -- I
- -- N
- -- G

Tonight. Be there. Be Naked. BARENAKED.

Barenaked
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Today is the day to BE NAKED, BARENAKED. Yes my friends, this evening I will be enjoying the musical stylings of one of my favorite bands, the Barenaked Ladies. In tribute I give you the pick of the day (a whole ALBUM nonetheless), Barenaked for the Holidays.

The Magical Number Three

3 names you answer to:
1. Laura
2. Fluffy
3. Chief

3 parts of your heritage:
1. Austrian
2. Russian
3. Polish

3 things that scare me:
1. The future, the unknown.
2. The idea of raising children in today's world.
3. The idea that I might not be successful.

3 of your everyday essentials:
1. Hitting the doze button on my alarm.
2. Talking to my man.
3. Internet - I'm addicted.

3 things you are wearing right now:
1. My pajamas.
2. My glasses.
3. Little diamond earrings.

3 of your favorite songs:
1. In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel
2. Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton
3. Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye

3 things you want in a relationship (other than real love):
1. Honesty
2. Laughter
3. A Soulmate

3 of your favorite hobbies:
1. Knitting
2. Reading
3. Watching movies

3 places you want to go:
1. Australia & New Zealand
2. England, Ireland & Scotland
3. Japan

3 things you want to do before you die:
1. Marry my soulmate and raise a family.
2. Find a career I have passion for and excel at.
3. Maintain a group of lifelong friends.

3 ways that you are stereotypically a male/female:
1. I cry and get depressed once a month.
2. I love dying my hair and getting my nails done.
3. I could live in craft stores.

You win some, you lose some.

Man loses bet by staying alive

LONDON (Reuters) - A 91-year-old British man who staked a 500-pound bet that he would be dead by the end of the first week in December lost his stake by staying alive, a bookmaker said Saturday.

Arthur King-Robinson said he put the bet on at odds of 6/1 at the start of the year because his wife would have faced an inheritance tax bill of 3000 pounds had he died in the intervening period.

"I thought I'd heard most things that people want to bet on after 30 years in the business," said Graham Sharpe, spokesman for bookmaker William Hill. "But one asking literally to place a dead cert was unique. I'm glad Arthur has lost."

King-Robinson had feared that his wife Cynthia, 85, would have to sell the home they had lived in for 50 years in southwest England if she had been hit by the tax bill.

"I lost my 500 pounds -- but it gave me peace of mind," he said.

Lucky No. 5

Lucky No. 5
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Bush runs away with Heisman Trophy

By Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com
Archive

NEW YORK -- Reggie Bush treated the Heisman Trophy field the same way he responds on a football field. He ran away from everyone chasing him.


The USC junior tailback won the highest percentage of first-place votes and the highest percentage of points (awarded on a 3-2-1 basis) in the 71-year history of the award. Texas quarterback Vince Young finished a distant second, and Bush's quarterback, 2004 Heisman winner Matt Leinart, finished an even more distant third.

"It means everything for me," Bush said. "Me and Matt just made history. We won it back-to-back. For my family, for my hometown of San Diego -- it's a great opportunity, a great feeling."

Bush and Leinart will make history at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4 when their Trojans take on Young's Longhorns. They will become the first pair of Heisman Trophy winners to play together in a college game.

O Holy Night SMACKDOWN

I return this morning with more discourse on Christmas Music. Although I wouldn't call what I'm about to do new and different I would like to speak of my favorite song, and give some cheers and jeers for good and bad versions.

I have always loved O Holy Night. Don't ask me why, because it's HUGELY religious and I'm not a religion fan. But there is something about this song that has always appealed to me. Perhaps it's the melody or the sweeping range involved in singing, but this particular carol is hands down my favorite.

Words: Placide Clappeau, 1847; trans­lat­ed from French to Eng­lish by John S. Dwight (1812-1893). Clap­peau, a wine mer­chant and may­or of Roque­maure, France, wrote po­ems for his own en­joy­ment.

Music: Adolphe C. Adam (1803-1856) This is said to have been the first mu­sic ev­er broad­cast over a ra­dio.

Without further ado:

The Good (great):

* Josh Groban - His voice and interpretation of this song make me shiver each time I hear it.

* N Sync - Normally I wouldn't enjoy quite so stylized a version (particularly with the grace notes) but it's the a capella harmony that just sucks me in. Try it here.

* Nat King Cole - Need I say more? Listen here.


The Bad:

* Celine Dion - Now this had the potential to be a good version. First of all, she could have done one of the verses in French which would have taken it up a notch and made it a little different. You can say a lot about Celine, but the woman has pipes. I wanted so much more.

The Ugly:

* Mariah Carey. Read about it here.

* Jessica Simpson - I'm not sure I've ever heard the song sung orgasmically before. I'm not sure I want to ever again.

IMDB: Internet Movie Devil Blog

Title courtesy of a colleage.

Well it occurs to me that I haven't done my movie reviews in a while, probably clear back to Thanksgiving weekend. So here's a recap of what I've seen in the recent past:

* Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - I can't really say that I saw this one as I fell asleep fairly early on and pretty much napped right through it. (Hey! Wes was awful warm and snuggly on the couch, you would have slept too!) Anyway, his verdict was that it was quite odd. It had the potential to be really interesting - basically it's Hamlet from a different perspective. It ended up slightly across between Monty Python and a weird acid trip. (from my few minutes notice...)

* Sin City - This one I really wanted to see, and unfortunately I fell asleep again. However what little I saw was quite interesting and stylized and Wes seemed to enjoy it. That's all I got on that one.

* Miracle - This was a great movie. I'm not a huge hockey fan, but Kurt Russell and the cast do an incredible job of recreating the USA hockey team. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it as a feel good movie (beware the body checks though).

* Short Cuts - Another truly odd offering from Robert Altman with an amazing cast. This one caught my eye because I love Robert Altman flicks. It was as usual, totally bizarre but a good watch. If you like quirky zany films that make no sense until the end, this one's for you.

* The Office: Series 1 - The BBC Edition. I hate to say it, but I found this show insipid. It's like a manual of what NOT to do in an office. Having actually been forced to sit through all the seminars on how NOT to sexually harass people and how NOT to behave at work, watching this was painful to the point of not being enjoyable. Sorry folks. I just didn't like it.

* Alexander - I know this one got panned in the reviews, and now I know why. It's got an interesting cast, but it is just badly done. The talent (Angelina Jolie, Colin Farrell, Jared Leto, Val Kilmer) seem to be Grecian, but they all speak with Romanian and Irish and absolutely unrecognizable accents. The story would benefit from being an hour shorter, and involving more than Colin Farrell alternately crying and bullying his soldiers to press onward. Sir Anthony Hopkins was the only redeeming factor and even he couldn't save this train wreck. I wouldn't try it if I were you.

Mother of all things stupid.

otherwise known as: WHEN REALLY SMART PEOPLE DO REALLY DUMB THINGS.

Today as I was pumping gas ($2.45/gallon for premium - hot dog what a deal!) I decded to multitask and clean out the car as well. I went around the vehicle pulling papers from semesters past, empty water bottles and a few Power Bar wrappers and then threw them in the trash can as my gas stopped pumping. Ahh, I sighed with satisfaction, a job well done.

It was then that I realized I also threw away my credit card, which I had been holding in my hand with the garbage.

OH. FUCK.

UPDATE

For those who wondered (like Lynlee), I called the credit card company as soon as I got home. No one had found it or charged on it, and I requested that it be cancelled because I "lost" it. The nice gentleman asked me if he should put a hold on it..."in case I found it this week." NOT BLOODY LIKELY. :)

Lucky Girl.

White Flowers
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Cyborg?

I'm done!

Yup, I've now survived fall semester and I'm down to 4 terms left of grad school. Hooray!

And it's Friday - hip hip HOORAY!

This morning is off to a fairly decent start. Other than being arctic in the office (which is nothing new), the day started out with a beautiful boquet of flowers from my man. He sure knows how to make me smile. (Photos later!)

So, Christmas song of the day:

If you're looking for something fairly true to the classic melody but with a whole new sound, try the stylings of Mannheim Steamroller's Carol of the Bells.

Slip 'n Slide

Passenger jet slides off runway at Chicago airport

Thu Dec 8, 2005 10:41 PM ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A Southwest Airlines plane landing in a snowstorm at Chicago's Midway Airport slid off a runway and smashed through a fence onto a road on Thursday, injuring at least two motorists, officials said.

The Boeing 737, which had flown from Baltimore with 98 passengers and five crew, ended up in an intersection with its nose on the ground after the front gear collapsed, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said.

The FAA said no one on Southwest Flight 1248 was hurt but that two people were injured in a car that collided with the plane. Chicago's WBBM radio reported as many as nine motorists were injured, some seriously, as vehicles plowed into the aircraft.

Blah Blah Blah.

Today has been an incredibly busy and bizarre day (as you may have guessed from my posting absence this morning). So many things to cover in this post.

First, I made my acting debut this morning in a film. I was the one my boss called when he needed a girl to hand out coffee in a scene. Fabulous. Now my contribution to the Institute is relegated to handing out coffee in our introductory video. I'm sure I was a smashing hit. Gag me.

Then of course it was time for the Holiday Party. This year we splurged a little and took 100 some odd people to the Chart House in Marina Del Rey, for wine, prime rib and a good old fashioned holiday party time. Can you say we all need an AAR (after-action-review) that involves a NAP.

We returned at approximately 2pm to find that our good old network had taken a nosedive. This is of course in advance of the expected downing midday tomorrow to move the server room. Let me take this moment to add that in addition to taking our computers, this also renders our nifty DSL phones absolutely useless. Might as well use them as doorstops folks.

Ok, so enough bitching. On with the Holiday music for the day.

Today's hit is a little gem from yesteryear. Some of you may remember/have been devoted fans of the early years of Ally McBeal (yeah before they killed Billy and got all wiggy with it). Check out Robert Downey Jr.'s cover of the Joni Mitchell song River on the Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas album.

QOTD (Quote of the Day)

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.

-Albert Einstein, physicist, Nobel laureate (1879-1955)

Grandma got run over by a Taser

Tased grandma heading to court

FRANKLIN — A 68-year-old grandmother who was tased at least four times by Franklin police during an arrest could have her lawsuit against the department heard in federal court in November 2006, according to court documents.

And NO, this is not a new and different song. :)

Santa Skeet

Santa Skeet
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

HELP WANTED:

New Santa.
No experience needed.
Must have own reindeer.

This post generously created by C&C Inc.

Things to waste time on while procrastinating studying:

1. Find out who the man is behind "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

2. Clicky clicky.

Sooner or later it had to happen.

Air Marshal Kills Passenger, Citing Threat

By JOHN PAIN, Associated Press Writer

MIAMI - An agitated passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his backpack was shot and killed by a federal air marshal Wednesday after he bolted frantically from a jetliner that was about to take off, officials said. No bomb was found.

The man, identified as Rigoberto Alpizar, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen, was gunned down on a jetway just before the American Airlines plane was about to leave for Orlando, near his home in Maitland.

It was the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks that an air marshal had shot at anyone, Homeland Security Department spokesman Brian Doyle said.

According to a witness, the man frantically ran down the aisle of the Boeing 757, flailing his arms, while his wife tried to explain that he was mentally ill and had not taken his medication.

The passenger indicated there was a bomb in his bag and was confronted by air marshals but ran off the aircraft, Doyle said. The marshals went after him and ordered him to get down on the ground, but he did not comply and was shot when he apparently reached into the bag, Doyle said.

Pure Dumb Luck.

Call of nature saves man from garbage crusher

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man who fell asleep in a rubbish container after a bout of heavy drinking had a lucky escape after he was tipped into the hydraulic press of a garbage truck, police said on Wednesday.

The 47-year-old was only saved from being crushed when the truck's driver stopped to urinate before continuing his round. He quickly switched off the press after he heard swearing coming from the truck's interior.

"The man admitted drinking a lot of booze the previous night and climbing into the container to seek refuge from the rain where he passed out," the police said in a statement. The man, from Fischbachtal in southwestern Germany, suffered only a minor head injury and mild shock.

La Musique - Parte Deux

I'm becoming quite the holiday expert here so I thought I would impart a few words of wisdom along with the daily music find.

Sage Advice for the Holiday Season:

1. Do not, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, go to the Post Office between now and Christmas. It ain't pretty.

2. Shop early, and online whenever possible.

3. Do not, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, go to the Post Office between now and Christmas. It ain't pretty.

4. Shop early, and online whenever possible.

5. You get the idea.


Today's New Song

The Li'l Sis and I have often noted that a Christmas carol we do not enjoy in the least is the Little Drummer Boy. However, last year I heard a version that made me want to pull over and call her right away because it was so amazingly different and beautiful. (I might have actually...) Thanks to our friends at Google, I now give you the latin flamenco guitar stylings of Ottmar Liebert's Little Drummer Boy/Luna Negra Beat.

Searching for something a little bit different.

I've remarked already this season how, to my dismay, several of my favorite radio stations have gone Christmas style 24/7 and how annoying I find it. I mean c'mon folks, who can be all chipper and Christmas-y on a Monday morning 3 weeks before the blessed event.

In contrast to my annoyance with the ever-hastening presence of Christmas each year, I actually do love the music. This might sound odd coming from a little Jewish girl, but I not only grew up in a primarily Christian community, but I don't have any strong ties to Judaism. The music, much of it anyhow, doesn't actually have a lot to do with religion, but more about the warmth of indoors during the season (well ok if you're in LA it's warm inside, outside all year round) and the family and friendship. Besides, the tree smells good, the lights are pretty and I don't remember either in that old manger where the baby was born who we're celebrating.

ANYHOW - so I like them tunes. Except some of the tunes get old year after year, especially that one about that dang little drummer boy. So I'm always up for something new. Aha - now you get the subject line.

So from now until Christmas I will try to scout out the best new and DIFFERENT songs I can find (and I also might jeer the bastardizations of the old favorites too.)

Without further ado:

My new favorite from this morning: SheDaisy doing Jingle Bells. An update to a classic song that includes a melodic twist and quite a bit of harmony. On the entertainment scale: I refrained from hitting doze until it was over and listened closely.

My new jeer: Mariah Carey wrecking my personal favorite, O Holy Night. (And no she doesn't get a link because it is such utter garbage.) Stick to pop and tight tops, and quit mucking up Christmas Mimi!

Pot + Kettle = Black

Saddam Says He Will Boycott 'Unjust Court'

By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A woman testified in the trial of Saddam Hussein and his seven lieutenants Tuesday that she was assaulted and tortured with beatings and electric shocks by the former president's agents. Later, at the end of the session, when the judges decided to reconvene Wednesday, Saddam suddenly shouted that he would not attend. "I will not return. I will not come to an unjust court! Go to hell!" Saddam yelled.

Milestones

I've been thinking about my life over the past few days and I realized that I'm reaching a fair number of milestones in very short order. I guess some are larger than others, but here goes:

* Only 13 work days left until the Holiday Break! (Only 17 days total!)

* As of this Thursday, December 8, I will have finished half of my graduate career. I finished half the credits the first year, but I'll be down to 17 months and only 4 terms (and conveniently 4 more large payments).

* As of this Friday, December 9, I will have worked for USC for 3 years. That's the longest I've been employed anywhere, although I guess given that I switched "departments" in July, it doesn't quite count.

* As of this Christmas, Wes and I will only have 2 more years apart to go. It still seems too long though.

* As of this Spring, I will have graduated High School 10 years ago. Damn I feel old.

How errmmmm Biblical.

Erotic moments from Bible...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German Protestant youth group has put together a 2006 calendar with 12 staged photos depicting erotic scenes from the Bible, including a bare-breasted Delilah cutting Samson's hair and a nude Eve offering an apple.

"There's a whole range of biblical scriptures simply bursting with eroticism," said Stefan Wiest, the 32-year-old photographer who took the titillating pictures.

Anne Rohmer, 21, poses on a doorstep in garters and stockings as the prostitute Rahab, who is mentioned in both New and Old Testaments. "We wanted to represent the Bible in a different way and to interest young people," she told Reuters.

"Anyway, it doesn't say anywhere in the Bible that you are forbidden to show yourself nude."

Bernd Grasser, pastor of the church in Nuremberg where the calendar is being sold, was enthusiastic about the project which is explained online at www.bibelkalender.de.

"It's just wonderful when teenagers commit themselves with their hair and their skin to the bible," he said.

Knitty!

Knitty!
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Now that Santa and Hanukah Harry have made the rounds (we're not all going to be together again for the holidays so my family has exchanged gifts already), I can post the pictures.

Here are just a few of the gifts I've been working on.

Hoping there's an ounce of truth to this Horoscope stuff...

"The higher-ups who've been considering you for a promotion, both in pay and position, have been doing so because your style of management is anything but usual. See? Your hard work really has been appreciated."

A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

Fight on!
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Ok.. maybe just a few.

FINAL SCORE:
USC 66, UCLA 19

34 Consecutive Wins

Bring on Texas and the Rose Bowl BABY!

Game Day in a Mixed Family

Rivalry Week Tommy Trojan
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

As many of you know, I am from a mixed family. No I am not speaking of race, religion or creed - I am speaking of college rivalry. In Los Angeles, there are two rivals - UCLA and USC. My parents went to the former, I attend the latter.

Luckily my parents don't really care about football, so the family situation isn't compromised too much. However, I thought I'd share something amusing with you for game day: a picture of our mascot Fighting On! This my friends is dear Tommy Trojan, only he must be protected from dangerous Bruin stunts. So 2 weeks prior to the big game, this is what we all see.

Ahh... the many uses of duct tape.

Finally Friday.

fuzzyfeet
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

Yup. I finally made it to Friday. All the projects have been graded, and the work is done for the week. Now I just need to review my SIXTEEN chapters for my law final and I'm ready to go. Piece of cake. ;)

Actually, save getting the car serviced and hitting the market this weekend, I hope to put my fuzzy feet up and watch movies, read and relax a little.

Thailand (& Singapore)

Thailand
Originally uploaded by littledevilworks.

I found out yesterday that I get to go to Singapore & Thailand from March 9-19 with my MBA program. In addition to touring companies there, we'll get to see the countries and do some shopping. I'm super excited - one of the few times that I've gotten to go overseas!

Quote of the day:

"Seven out of 10 Americans are pro-life and pro-choice. They would prefer that somebody didn't have an abortion. They might even prefer themselves not to have an abortion. [But] they say as far as government is concerned, it shouldn't interfere with abortion or shouldn't criminalize it."

- Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, in response to a question from a student on November 5, prior to his keynote address at Founders Day at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Mini-Update

Lots going on this week and no time to post! Working on the last law chapter as I write this, and getting ready for the last law class tonight. Then just the final next Thursday and I'm done with winter term! Only 4 terms left. :)

Grading is moving along - about half done and not sure if I'm going to make tomorrow's deadline. Yikes!!!

Had "coffee" (read: Chai tea) with the old roommate last night and had a great gossip session that lasted a little too late in the evening (read: into the morning hours), but I'm here at work and ready to kick some butt and take some names for today.

More news as it happens!

(And a big holla to the Jackelopian for her 3rd round of interviews today!)