Today's "Duh of the Day" comes from our esteemed Gringo who says:

...i’m failing to see the difference between this [Scientology] and any other religion.

Well, the difference between Scientology and any other religion usually stem from nonequal beliefs and customs. For instance, Scientologists do not practice salat. Most members of Islam do. Another example is that many Christians believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Many Scientologists do not believe that, to my knowledge.

It is in these ways that religions differ from each other.

Monday - Sucked

Tuesday - Good

Wednesday - Even Better

Thursday - DVD Burner, more RAM.

I am pure goodness.

For Christmas, I bought Aidan They Might Be Giants' "No!" I had recently discovered that they, and a number of other indie rock artists, began working in what might be called "kid's music." Listening to the CD this morning with Aidan on our way to his grandma's house, I realized how wrong this assessment is.

I already liked the album. We listen to it at home, and he likes to dance and clap and laugh along to it. But usually there is too much going on to enjoy the music. Usually, we are also playing with toys or reading books or running into the furniture (at least Aidan is usually involved in those activities) to listen intentionally to the music.

But this morning as we drove, I got a chance to appreciate it on a whole new level. At first blush, the album appears to be simply silly kids songs. But as I listened, I heard great songwriting, lyrically and musically. Songs like the buoyant rocker "Clap Your Hands" and the mellow, dreamy "Where Do They Make Balloons" transcend mere kid stuff.

The album would certainly appeal to fans of They Might Be Giants, but I think it would also appeal to fans of bands like the Flaming Lips as well. I look forward to discovering more kids music with my son.

No, not the Wilford Brimley movies. I've been looking for a case for my iPod Nano for a while now, and none of them seemed to be what I needed. All I ever found were sport sleeves or arm bands, or the occasional "leather folio." I really wanted a case that could hold my iPod and some accessories. I was tired of worrying, for example, that my iTrip would fall out of my coat pocket, or that I would misplace my ear buds.

Melanie found a case on Apple's website called a Cocoon. I just got it yesterday, and so far it seems to be just what I wanted. It has enough room for my earbuds and iTrip, with a little room left over for the lanyard that came with it, if I wanted it in there, too. I don't know if I will have much use for it yet. Maybe if I use it while working out.

It's a larger case, for sure, but I care more about the extra compartment than about keeping it slim. Plus, I like that the case seems durable, whereas everything else I've seen seems merely cosmetic.

Just wanted to share my excitement!

My mother-in-law wanted to make a birthday dinner for me, and asked me what I wanted. I have a particular affinity for this taco salad that she makes. She usually makes some killer enchiladas with it, so that's what I requested. I was told that that was too easy to make, that I should pick something else. So I said, "How about Chateau Brion"? Lo and behold, we go to her and her boyfriend's house yesterday, and what are they making? Chateau Brion.

It was so very awesome.

My iPod gave me a rather diverse random ten this busy, crazy, hectic Friday.

Strung Out - Rotten Apple
Bad Religion - Faith in God
Tom Waits - Dead and Lovely
The Milkshakes - Pipeline
Minor Threat - Cashing In
Chevelle - Comfortable Liar
Tori Amos - Winter
Los Diablos del Sol - Wild Sound
Public Enemy - Hell No We Ain't All Right
The Hives - Antidote

Do these all seem like they belong in one person's collection? Do Public Enemy and the Tori Amos work side by side? Would the Milkshakes have toured with Minor Threat (or for that matter, would Thee Headcoats tour with Fugazi)?

The other day I told Melanie that her brain is like a Brawny paper towel, and mine is more like the other leading brand. She remembers so many things, like important dates, my pants' size, pizza toppings I like, who starred in what movie. I, on the other hand, can barely be counted on to remember my car keys, never mind where I put them the night before.

I wish I had a better memory. I try hard to remember to do nice things for her, and to clean up after myself, and to consider her needs, but sometimes I just plain forget. And it's not because I'm not thinking about her, because I am. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in doing something nice for her, that instead of thinking about what she would like, I think about what I would like if I were her and I do that.

4 color rebellion » Nintendo Keynotes Redux

Some excellent news from the Game Developer's Conference:

He's not done here though, he finally unveils that the Revolution Virtual Console will feature about 1000 Sega Genesis/Master System games and also some TurboGFX games! This makes the Revolution Virtual Console even better than we first expected.

I am already super excited for the virtual console feature of the Revolution and now I'm even more excited. I missed out on some good Genesis games because I never owned one, but now I'll be able to play Sonic, Streets of Rage, Phantasy Star, and plenty of others. Sweet! Hopefully some of the Bonk games will be included in the Turbo Grafix selection because I always enjoyed those. So what else could we be seeing on the Virtual Console now that Sega is on board? Saturn and Dreamcast titles? With a broadband connection they really wouldn't take that long to download.

The idea of Genesis games on a Nintendo system is still kind of throwing me for a loop. I never thought I would see this day. Yes, I know, Sega has been releasing games on Nintendo systems for awhile, but these are Genesis games from when Sega and Nintendo were bitter enemies! Now a lot of gamers tend to own multiple systems, but when I was growing up you were pretty much either a Sega household or a Nintendo household. We were Nintendo all the way up until the Playstation came out. Now us Nintendophiles are considered the quirky folks in the gaming world. Hopefully that will change with the Revolution and the rising popularity of the DS.

One of our favorite shows of late on Cartoon Network's magical Adult Swim is Harvey Birdman: Attorney at law. It's basically characters taken from old Hana Barbara cartoons, being used in this new show. Birdman is a lawyer for characters like the Jetsons, Flintstones, etc. The cases range from Apache Chief (of Superfriends) suing a business because their coffee spilled on him and blocked his ability to enlarge... to a custody case between Dr. Quest and Race Bannon for the kids after their "friendship" dissolves.

Besides the cases, I love all of the show's regular characters. Phil Ken Sebben, Harvey's boss, in particular is one of the funniest. He wears an eye patch, and often directs people to sit in a chair while pointing in a completely different direction. He's also just a weird guy.

Anyway, all that introduction to say that if you've ever worked for a company that is well-organized, you have most likely been witness to the creation of one or various mission statements. I have our school's mission statement memorized because I have heard it so often, and within each department, there are even more mission statements. Sometimes I feel a bit tired of the cliches that appear in mission statements, and also how unrealistically idealistic they sound at times.

So when I saw an episode of HBAAL which featured Phil Ken Sebben in an informational video about working for Sebben and Sebben (his company), I almost died laughing at the company's mission statement. It has every cliche in the book and is also hilarious (to me, at least). Enjoy:

PUTTING CLIENTS FIRST BY PUTTING EMPLOYEES FIRST, IMMEDIATELY AFTER PRIORITIZING FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AND LEVERAGING PROFITABILITY TOWARD EXCEEDING BY EMPOWERING OUR EMPLOYEES TO PUT CLIENTS (AND THEMSELVES) FIRST, IN A DIVERSE AND RESPECTFUL ENVIRONMENT OF ONLY THOSE THAT COME FIRST, FIRST.

Yeah. Love this show.