West Virginia?

This police chief makes West Virginia eligible for my contest.

Heroes

This sounds like a pretty interesting premise for a TV show. Even if it's sort of like the movie Unbreakable (which, by the way, is a vastly underrated movie).

The "My State Is Crazier than Yours" Contest

Here's my new contest... In the comments section below, provide evidence that your state is full of backwards wackos. At some undetermined point in the future, I will determine the state that wins. I have to tell you upfront, it will take some convincing not to give the award to Kansas. And I say this as a resident of Virginia.

I've been thinking about this contest for a while, but it came to mind again today when I saw this story about Missouri. Is Missouri trying to make gains on Kansas in this contest? Maybe, but I can think of one reason I might let Missouri slide.

So I look forward to reading your entries. Don't hold back! Tell me why your state sucks!

Things people blogged about this morning

Jeff wonders: If Southwest moves its headquarters to Baltimore, do they have to change their name to Mideast?

Dara talks about The Office. Even though I slightly disagree with her because the show has been funny from the beginning, and I think that characters like Michael and Dwight DO exist in many offices, I thank her for the link to Dwight's blog.

Boo-ya

I was right on all four of my American Idol elimination predictions.

Missouri Valley vs. ACC

This is so amusing to me, I had to post it on two blogs:

ESPN's Bracketology estimates the Missouri Valley Conference as having 5 teams in the NCAA tournament, including the beloved Southern Illinois University Salukis. This is as many teams as the ACC has in.

In addition, the MVC would have more teams than the Big 12 or Pac 10.

Yes, I watch American Idol

I'm not afraid to admit it. And so far, Mandisa has blown everyone else out of the water. Paris, Elliott and Chris have been solid, Gedeon has shown promise, I like Bucky alot but he doesn't have what it takes for the long haul, and Taylor is solid but I don't like him as well as I did a few weeks ago. Brenna is annoying as all get out and needs to be eliminated immediately. My predictions for tonight's eliminations.... Heather, Brenna, Sway and David.

Alito

He's even more in bed with religious conservatives than I thought.

Wiretapping

Why do polls always, so consistently, ask the wrong question on wiretapping?

In a Quinnipiac Poll, 55% say the government should get a court order when wiretapping calls in or out of the United States.

That's a majority, but a small one. But here's the thing. There are still out there who don't understand the FISA Court and its purpose. Some of the people answering this question may (like me) watch alot of 24 and think of the situations in which there may not be time to get a warrant.

With FISA, the president has 72 hours to get a warrant after the fact.

The question I'd like Quinnipiac to ask is "Although the president has the ability to wiretap immediately when there is a suspected threat, is the FISA requirement that he get a court order within 72 hours after the fact reasonable?"

I bet more than 55% would answer "Yes."

"I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees"

Mr. President, I think someone did, a couple days before you said that, and there is video evidence....

Update on Fox News

Last week, Fox News thought civil war in Iraq might be a good thing.

This week, it seems Fox News thinks this whole civil war thing is "Made Up."

The Seventeenth Season of "The Real World?"

Good lord, I feel old.

Team Chemistry

King Kaufman shows once again why he's the most interesting sports write around. Most sports writers take it for granted that "team chemistry" is something that exists and has tangible results on the field. Kaufman dares to challenge this notion. I don't pretend to know whether team chemistry exists or not, but seeing as it's not something that can be measured, I don't think we'll ever know.

Kobe and Shaq hated each other, yet one three championships together. Biggio and Bagwell have been great friends and teammates for well over a decade, but neither has a World Series title. That's all I'm saying.

You know whose sex tape I don't want to see?

Ted Turner and Jane Fonda.

John Fund

So now John Fund gets to read security briefings that I don't? Not cool.

Cat Flu

Looks like bird flu has moved on to mammals.

Republican Spyware

Because they really care about your privacy.

Funny things in The Onion

Funny articles in The Onion today:

Democrats Vow Not to Give Up Hopelessness

Kennedy Center to Dishonor Gilbert Gottfried

Christian Rock Uninspired

and my favorite:

I Can Write 600 Words About Anything

I think we wrote something along these lines for a book report, once upon a time.

Justin picks the Oscars

So, I might as well pretend I'm a critic and pick the Oscars. Which is really lame of me seeing as I haven't seen 3 of the best picture nominees, two of the best actor nominees, 4 of the best actress nominees, etc. But here are my picks as well as what I would have picked from ALL movies this year that I have seen.

BEST PICTURE

I haven't seen Munich, Capote or Crash. That leaves Good Night and Good Luck vs. Brokeback Mountain. I give the edge to Brokeback Mountain, although it's pretty close. My overall favorite movies I saw this year were Sin City and Match Point.

BEST ACTOR

Haven't seen Hustle and Flow or Capote, which makes this really unfair. Sounds like Terrence Howard and Phillip Seymour Hoffman gave the performances of the year. Of the three I've seen, I'll go with Joaquin Phoenix. Strathairn and Ledger were fine, but I think the movies overall were better than the actual performances. Steve Carrell should have been nominated for 40 Year Old Virgin. I'm serious.

BEST ACTRESS

I've see Reese Witherspoon and that's all. She'll probably win and it was a helluva performance, and I can't think of a better one by an actress this year.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

I haven't seen Syriana or Crash, so that leaves Paul Giamatti, Jake Gyllenhaal and William Hurt. Giamatti shouldn't have even been nominated. Yeah, I know, he was overlooked for Sideways, but Cinderella Man was a crap movie and his performance was sappy. Gyllenhaal was pretty good, but William Hurt is the man. That was a great performance, and Ed Harris should have been nominated for History of Violence as well.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

I've seen only Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams. I fell asleep in Constant Gardner, so Michelle Williams wins by default.

DIRECTING

Nominees are identical to Best Picture, so again, I've only seen two. It's George Clooney vs. Ang Lee. Ang Lee beats Clooney, and Brokeback may have been the best directed film of the year anyway.

MUSIC (SCORE)

Brokeback all the way. I wouldn't have even mentioned this category if Brokeback didn't have such a great score.

That's all I have.

Don Knotts

As you probably know by now, Don Knotts died over the weekend. Everyone's talking about Andy Griffith, and to a lesser extent, Three's Company, and they're right to do so. I just wanted to mentioned that his small role as the TV Repairman in Pleasantville is one of the great bits of casting in recent years.

Also, Darren McGavin, the dad from "A Christmas Story" died.

Update: My friend Ryan points out that Dennis Weaver, the guy who was scared shitless in Duel, died too. I remember him from Duel, but older people probably remember him from McCloud and Gunsmoke.

It sure has been a bad weekend to be an old guy who used to be a famous actor. Especially if your first name starts with D.

Some possibilites... These guys might want to be a little extra careful for the next few days.

Dick Clark
Dick Van Dyke
Don Rickles
David Newell... Mr. McFeely from Mr. Rogers

The world used to be so innocent... Did no one think the name Mr. McFeely was inappropriate for a childrens' show? Especially when combined with "Speedy Delivery?"

Things people blogged about over the weekend.

We went curling this weekend!

Jeff has the photographic evidence.

I only fell on my ass twice. Or maybe three times. But who's counting? It was fun... I wish I didn't have to go to Maryland to do it. I wish there was curling in Virginia. (Hint, hint, Arlington Ice Center).

I have alot more respect for curlers after having done this. Keeping balance is harder than it looks, much less throwing a stone with any sort of precision.

Jeff also has a link to Puppy Curling.

Dara had a busy weekend of blogging. She posted links to, among other things, The International Pun Contest and Morrissey being investigated by the FBI. But most importantly, she posted a link to the winners of the DC Metro Anagram Contest. Here's the PDF.

One of mine and one of my girlfriend's, and one of Dara's (almost) were included! He used my "Catty Lyrics" for Crystal City and Debby's "Asian Taco" for Anacostia. Dara's "Tavern Rodents" for Van Dorn Street became "Rodent Taverns."

I also like "A War Gets Turf" for Farragut West, as Farragut West is pretty close to the White House. He used "This Mansion" for Smithsonian. I like "Shit Mansion" and "Sith Mansion" better. "Crab Haven" is pretty appropriate for Branch Ave, too, since it's in Maryland.

In other blogging, I like MOsanthrope's link to prohibit Republican's from adopting.

I find these thoughts on Daily Kos, about John McCain, intriguing, but I'm not really sure how I feel about it yet. I generally agree, though, that despite the fact that I like McCain in a number of ways, 4 more years with a War Hawk as president wouldn't be any fun.