Valentine's Hoops

The high school is hosting the regional basketball tournament this week, and we could get in free by taking goodies for the officials. And we did. As soon as I got home, we trudged over through sub-arctic temperatures to deliver food and watch the game. Or so I thought. Turns out our team didn't take the floor for another 90 minutes. We then walk back home through the sub-arctic temperatures, and I meekly suggest that next time we find a game schedule. It was dinner time, and we ate not a cookie as we carried them to the school, and Your Sis picks out where we could eat. Now keep in mind, it's Valentine's Day. This is when folks go out to eat, and almost any place we go is going to be crammed. And so it was as we arrived at the steakhouse. A 30-minute wait, we hear, and right back out the door we go. We go to the Chinese place to eat and eventually discuss high-school memories of Valentine's Day. And back to the school we go to watch the boys varsity team.

A few weeks ago, the newspaper staff, whom I have passively adopted as a sometime consultant, sold t-shirts they designed. It's a person's two fists side by side with "2006" and "2007" on the knuckles. The principal decided this was a gang sign and banned the shirts. Because we all know how many gang members work for school newspapers. I got my dander up about it and asked Your Sis to get me a shirt to wear downtown. Which I do. I also decided to wear it to the game. And before we get out hopes up, no, nothing happened. But there was a moment where the principal was eying me from afar, and I hoped he would say something. Still, the night was not wasted as we watched our team play just about as good as a team can. It was a clear win as they near the conference finals.

At home after, we watched "Lost" head in a definite sci-fi direction for what proved to be one of the more satisfying episodes yet. There was much eating of M&Ms as well.

Picture of the Day
Plume activity on Io, a moon of Jupiter.



In the News
Remember Tony Snow adamantly saying the administration proved the Iraqi government was supplying the Iraq insurgents. Not 24 hours later, Bush said "I don't think we know" if Iran's leaders were behind the effort. He also said "The idea that somehow we're manufacturing the idea that the Iranians are providing IEDs (improvised explosive devices) is preposterous." Which sounds very nice until we remember the ginned up evidence against Iraq.

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John Edwards's campaign has opened a storefront in Second Life, the massive online virtual reality. It's as aggressive a strategy to court voters as any other exploitation of novelties, but it seems a move inspired by Gore's famous techno-savvy. It's as if someone in the campaign asked "what would Gore do?"It's a clever move, designed to increase his profile when he's eclipsed by Hillary and Obama, but such a move could also make him look marginalized to the majority demographic. Second Life is hardly mainstream. It's not even as popular as online games like World of Warcraft.