Merry Christmas! (Because no one will admit it.)

December 25: a day stores lock their otherwise always-open doors and spend some quality family time around a pine tree with presents under it. No, not Christmas. Only "seasons," holidays," and "that time of the year" are okay excuses for not working. Businesses, if you're gonna act like you celebrate Christmas, celebrate Christmas. And think about it, if Bush could win the 2004 election with religion, you can probably beat sales projections with it too.

Likewise, I know Santa is the real reason for Christmas (since Santa in Aramaic means "Jesus"), but there is another guy people think about this time of year. He died, came back to life, and was magical, bringing joy to all those around him. Hundreds of books and movies have even been made about him. If anyone is to be used as a catalyst for "holiday" sales, it's Frosty the Snowman.

Vikings? No way!

Here's a gem for you. (I admit I didn't find this one on my own.)

Some editor with a sense of humor (as opposed to stupidity--holding breath) over at abcnews.com headlined an article about a recent scandal involving members of the Minnesota Vikings football team as "Four Vikings Charged in Boat Scandal." Get outta town! My favorite quote from the article is:

"The crew members identified 17 Vikings among about 90 people on the two boats."

You can't make this stuff up. Okay maybe you can. Where's my "Purdue Accused of Going to College" headline?

P.S. In related news (psh, real news), the Minnesota Vikings are the only team, other than my own, still undefeated in my current season of Blitz 2001.

Blitz-krieg Bop

It's that time of the year again. Finals week. Perhaps a little bit due to the Colts' success this year, but mostly for procrastination purposes, I resurrected NFL Blitz 2001 for N64. This has happened now for the past 3 years--finals week rolls around and suddenly I play Blitz 24/7. I started thinking about this today, and I guess it's just the brainless fun Blitz offers that makes it so great. Forget Madden and all the finesse, just pull the Z button (Turbo) and go smash some people up. No penalties, injuries, or dumb rules to worry about. All the graphics and multi-core processors in the world can't match great gameplay. After I go through a couple undefeated seasons in Blitz, I might just have to bust out Blades of Steel for old school Nintendo. Classically trained.

Packers Fans (and winter clothing in general)

I just finished watching the Green Bay Packers squeeze out an overtime win over the roaring Lions (ha!), and I loved every crowd shot because almost every Packers fan was wearing some sort of hunting gear. No wear else can you find so many sports fans wearing orange sock hats and camouflage under their favorite jerseys.

Since we're on the subject, snow is the best excuse in the world to take all those fashion articles, tv shows, and stores you've seen and forget them like you forget math after a couple games of beer pong. So next time you go sledding, dig through those old boxes and find some hot pink pants, olive green sweatshirts, and yellow gloves and go have some fun.

12.8.80

Pearl Harbor Day

I guess I'm the only one observing Pearl Harbor Day. Though, how can one truly observe Pearl Harbor Day in 2005? I'm not watching that stupid movie, and I don't have time for the Discovery Channel. Well, there's a Japanese girl in my class right now, and the professor for my last class was in the military for a while. Yeah, I think that's good enough. I'm fortunate to live in Indiana, where the lakes are too shallow for torpedos.



Too soon?