I Came Back

We got back from our road trip early this evening. It turned out to be about the same as all of our road trips--no real surprises. We didn't buy anything exciting, unless you think laundry detergent is something to talk about! We did have one bit of an experience, though: K got stopped for speeding and got a ticket. This now is his second one in a year. I don't know what he will be doing about it. C thinks he should dispute it, cause the cop wrote him up for doing 20 above the limit. I really don't think he was doing more than 10 above, but... If K accepts this, he will have a total of 6 points on his license. YIKES! I'm sure our insurance will go up after this.

Yesterday we were sitting in the mall and I saw something I never thought I would see. There, in all his glory, was a man walking through the food court in flip-flop sandals, with no socks. A lot of people wouldn't really find this too odd of an occurrence, but the temp was running about 22 degrees and the wind chill had to be around 10-15 degrees! I guess he had no problems with being bare-footed in the cold because there was no snow. As I said, I never thought I would see anything like it, and never thought I would see it ever again. And today, I DID see it again!! The first thing we did when we got back here to town was go to the gas station and fill up. (We are supposed to be getting some nasty weather, so we wanted to have a full tank of gas in case of emergency.) And lo and behold, a guy pulls up to the pump next to us, gets out of his vehicle, and he is wearing flip-flops and no socks. Again, the temp was in the 20 degree range and there was a wind chill. The thing that made this time worse was the fact that WE have snow and he had to walk through several inches of it in his bare feet! I only wish I knew where this guy lived so that I could go and watch him this weekend when our HIGHS are only supposed to be about zero. I wonder what he will wear then? Maybe he will decide it is the perfect temp to go out streaking. (And believe me, NO ONE wants to see this guy naked! {shudder})

What A Game!

I was all ready to give up on tonight's game and they actually won it! The Islanders were winning 3-0 as the third period began. Then, out of nowhere, the Wings managed 3 goals to end with a 3-3 tie! One more goal was scored during overtime to win 4-3. Detroit played an amazing 20 minutes of hockey tonight--too bad a game is 60 minutes long. If they could consistently play good, solid hockey for 60 minutes, there would be no team around that could beat them. Unfortunately, they can't keep it going for an entire game. All in all, though, they are playing a lot better than any of the experts thought they would be this year. I guess it just proves one thing: if you have a lot of decent players, then your team doesn't need to suffer if you lose one or two stars.

We are off on a road trip in the morning and won't be back till some time on Thursday. It will be good to be away from home for a night, again. We haven't been anywhere since October--that is when K started having the health issues. I'll catch up with everyone in a few days.

Sunday Trivia

For those who would like to ease their way into the Monday routine, I present another installment of trivia. Thanks, again, goes to mental_floss.

--John Lennon and his son Sean were both born on October 9.

--In the year 2000, the number of US households with computers reached the 50% threshold. In 1984 only 8.4% of homes had computers.

--Sardine oil is more costly than the fish, so canners attempt to package as many sardines in each can as possible.

--On October 31, 1926, Harry Houdini died of peritonitis caused by a ruptured appendix.

--The Crescent wrench is not a type of wrench, but a brand name.

--Groundhog, woodchuck, and whistle-pig are all names for the same animal.

--On TV and in films, Lassie was always played by a male--even though Lassie was supposed to be female. This was for two reasons: 1) males tend to shed less than females, so the dog wouldn't look so ragged during the warm weather, and 2) male collies are several pounds larger than females, thus making it easier for the dog to do some of the stunts required.

--American Sign Language is the third most-used language in the US.

--Elwood Edwards is the name of the man who says "You've got mail." on AOL.

--Anna Edson Taylor, a 63-year-old widow, was the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

--A 'blue moon' is the second full moon in a month. The next blue moon will be on June 30, 2007.

--The Bayer company once sold heroin as a cough remedy.

And They Won

I really was worried about how the Wings would do today--after all, they have injuries and illness galore. All three of the goalies had problems: one with a broken finger, two with the flu. Hasek must have felt a whole lot better, because he played. Even though the announcers weren't too high on the game, I thought it was quite good. It wasn't a high scoring game--3-1--but there was good hockey to be seen. We even got to see a couple of slight shoving matches, but nothing more. I'm still waiting to see a good, old-fashioned fight--wonder if it will happen? The Wings dominated the entire game--the Avs really didn't do much to talk about. Next game is on Tuesday when they play the Islanders.

Something Else That's Boring

With nothing interesting to say, I decided to post a list of some of the movies I have never seen. What can I say, it's been a slow news day! :)

--Casablanca
--Goodfellas
--Chinatown
--L A Confidential
--The Maltese Falcon
--Singin' In The Rain
--On The Waterfront
--Annie Hall
--any Marx Brothers' movies
--40 Year Old Virgin*
--Titanic*
--Scarface
--Rebel Without A Cause
--Shane
--anything by Michael Moore*
--Halloween (any number)*

So, am I depriving myself by never having seen any of these? Are any of the movies on the list your favorite? Feedback will be welcome.


*Don't ever plan on seeing.

Didn't Quite Get It Together

The Wings lost in overtime to St. Louis, 2-1 tonight. It just seemed as if the players were like a bunch of kids coming back after spring break: just not quite with it. It was not a good game. As a matter of fact, I did my filing while the game was on--not something I would normally do during a well-played game. While it isn't an excuse, the Wings were playing without a number of their regular players: 3 had the flu, one has a bad knee, one is out with a broken collarbone, and one has a broken foot. Two or three players had to be called up from Grand Rapids, so they didn't play too badly, all things considered. It WAS a low scoring game, after all. I just hope they play a better game when they meet the Avs on Sunday.

Horrible Nightmares

I really don't know when I will be back to what I laughingly call normal. Last night I had horrible nightmares and I'm just trying to get over them. Of course, if I use the term 'horrible nightmares,' it must mean the main characters in my dreams were The Family--and that is true. Every single hurt, slight, yell, etc, that they have done to me in the past was in this particular nightmare--and my mind even made up a few for good measure! I still have to stop myself from shaking every once in awhile--it just was too, too real. Hopefully the memories will fade fast.

NHL All Star Game

I watched the All Star game last night--albeit, with the volume off while I was on the phone with A. :) It really turned out to be a goal-fest with the West winning 12-9 over the East. I was kind of pleased that the young upstarts (Sidney Crosby) didn't run away with the game as predicted. Experience DOES count for something--and the youngsters need to sit back and watch the veterans do what they have been doing so well for so long. It also was nice to see the West win because the best players--statistically speaking--are in the East. Just because you are an individual high scorer doesn't always mean your team is going to win--there IS something to be said for having a lot of very good players on a team as opposed to having one superstar player with a bunch of semi-good ones. All in all, I'm happy the break is over and we can get back to the second half of the season. I will be interested to see if Detroit will be getting any new players before the trade deadline in February. Rumor has it that they might look to get Peter Forsberg--hmmm, an enemy (ex-Av) and an old guy (33) and has injury problems (right foot.) Can't wait to see how this is going to play out.

The Web, Politics, 'Excuse Me?!' and Trivia

--Blogger was having some issues earlier today and it seems as if they might be fixed. But, then, who really knows. On a related matter: I have been having serious slowness problems with Sitemeter for the past several days. It is as if I was using dial-up AND every person in the world was trying for Sitemeter at the same time. Slow doesn't even come close to describing the problem. Actually, the entire Web has been just a scooch off for a few days. Hmm.

--Watched a few of the 'highlight' clips from the State of the Union address today and one thought kept running through my mind: the Brady Bunch episode when Marcia and Greg were both running for student body president. How sad is that when the behavior of our elected officials can be compared to The Brady Bunch!

--Does anyone else think this is just getting out of hand? (Or does anyone else even WATCH Grey's Anatomy?) This whole deal with Isaiah Washington and his use of the word 'faggot' is what I am talking about. NOW it is being reported that he has been sent to a residential treatment facility for rehab because of his use of the word. I don't like it when people use 'bad' words to describe or disparage another person, but hasn't this whole thing gone from a non-story to completely ludicrous? Is the show falling in the ratings and they need publicity to keep it on the air? As for me, I am very close to taking it off of my 'to be watched' list. This is getting ridiculous.

--And now, for those who actually have stayed and read through this entire post, some trivia from mental_floss. (Does anyone see how much I LOVE this site/magazine?)

* John Adams spoke with a lisp because he stubbornly refused to wear dentures.

* John Tyler holds the presidential paternity record. He had 14 children live to maturity, the last one born when Tyler was 70.

* James Buchanan had one eye set higher in his head than the other, so he walked around with his neck cocked to one side.

* Chester A. Arthur owned over 80 pairs of pants and insisted on changing several times a day.

* Benjamin Harrison had the first electric lights in the White House, but was scared to turn them on or off for fear of electrocution. Instead, he made the servants do it.

* Calvin Coolidge, while president, enjoyed riding on a mechanical horse and whooping like a cowboy. He also thought it was great fun to hit the buzzer for the servants and then hide.

* Richard M. Nixon loved football. As president, he'd occasionally call up NFL coaches to chat and offer strategic advice.

* Bill Clinton was eight years old when he was mauled by a sheep. That was the day, according to his biography, that he learned he could take a hard hit.

Hockey Players and Elected Officials

Even though I am not getting to see the Red Wings play this week, I did watch the YoungStars game and the SkillsCompetition. Actually, the game didn't hold my interest too well. The last time I realized what the score was, it was somewhere around 9-8 or so. This was, of course, the best of the best young players, so it wasn't that much of a competition. I found the SkillsCompetition to be quite good. It always is amazing to watch a player shoot the puck into the net at 100+ mph. THAT is why it hurts so much when a player gets hit with one! (Granted, ALL of the players don't hit the puck that hard, but do you want to be hit by a puck ONLY going 80 mph?) Tomorrow night is the AllStar game and I will have that on, too. We'll see how interested I am when it is all said and done.

Obviously, I didn't watch the State of the Union address tonight. I really have given up on watching those--I would rather just read the transcript and watch the highlights on the news. This all comes down to one reason: the observers at the speech. Now, I'm not talking just one party here, but ALL of the people involved. I find it very disgusting and juvenile when every minute or so the President's party members jump up and applaud as if he is giving the Sermon on the Mount. And, of course, the opposing party members just sit and--at the most--politely applaud with looks on their faces as if they have something extremely uncomfortable shoved up their respective asses! I don't care who is President, this is the way it is with each of the parties. It is really too bad that we have to observe such ill manners--and people wonder WHY we have bad-mannered sports fans (for example)! If our elected officials, the people who we are to respect and have voted in to run our country, act like this, how can we expect any more from the 'common' man? I guess good manners are something that have gone away.

And We Think WE Have Restrictive Rules

From mental_floss:

Naming your baby Brooklynn, America, or Lindsee might be acceptable (if mockable) in the good ol’ US of A, but don’t try a stunt like that in Denmark. Of all the European laws regulating baby names, Denmark’s are the strictest. Danish parents must choose from a state-approved list of 7,000 names, which seems like a lot, until you fall in love with a name that isn’t on there. And bucking the system means months of slogging through a bureaucratic process to get your chosen moniker individually approved by the Names Investigation Department and the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs. Each year, those organizations reject 15 to 20 percent of the names they review—all in the, uh, “name” of protecting the baby’s dignity.

A Tuesday Funny

I'm sure this has been passed around far and wide, but it still gives me a chuckle. Hope you enjoy.


20 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Level Of Insanity


1. At Lunch Time, Sit In Your Parked Car With Sunglasses on and point your Hair Dryer At Passing Cars. See If They Slow Down.

2. Page Yourself Over The Intercom. Don't Disguise Your Voice.

3. Every Time Someone Asks You To Do Something, Ask If They Want Fries with that.

4. Put Your Garbage Can On Your Desk And Label It "In."

5. Put Decaf In The Coffee Maker For 3 Weeks. Once Everyone has Gotten over Their Caffeine Addictions, Switch To Espresso.

6. In The Memo Field Of All Your Checks, Write "For Smuggling Diamonds."

7. Finish All Your sentences with "In Accordance With The Prophecy."

8. Don't use any punctuation

9. As Often As Possible, Skip Rather Than Walk.

10. With a serious face, order a diet water whenever you go out to eat.

11. Specify That Your Drive-through Order Is "To Go."

12. Sing Along At The Opera.

13. Go To A Poetry Recital And Ask Why The Poems Don't Rhyme.

14. Put Mosquito Netting Around Your Work Area And Play Tropical Sounds All Day.

15. Five Days In Advance, Tell Your Friends You Can't Attend Their Party Because You're Not In The Mood.

16. Have Your Coworkers Address You By Your Wrestling Name, Rock Bottom.

17. When The Money Comes Out The ATM, Scream "I Won!, I Won!"

18. When Leaving The Zoo, Start Running Towards The Parking lot, Yelling "Run For Your Lives, They're Loose!!"

19. Tell Your Children Over Dinner. "Due To The Economy, We Are Going To Have To Let One Of You Go."

20. And The Final Way To Keep A Healthy Level Of Insanity......
Share this with someone to make them smile :-)

Monday Ramblings

--I never would have believed it, but I am having withdrawal symptoms because the Wings won't be playing again till Friday. What will I do when the season is over?

--K saw the PCP today. While his blood pressure and cholesterol are pretty good--for someone who is otherwise healthy--the nephrologist wants the numbers much lower. So, he came home with two more prescriptions. He now will be taking Lipitor and another blood pressure med. If he keeps this up, he'll catch up to the amount of pills I take every day! (prescription AND supplements on my part)

--I don't now, or ever have, understood the appeal of American Idol. And after hearing about how mean the judges have been to these people, I don't understand it even more. (And, yes, those people 'ask for it' by putting themselves out there, but still...)

--It is not for me to judge, but I can't really believe that the parents of Shawn Hornbeck allowed him to be interviewed on TV this soon after his return. Despite their assurances that he wanted to do it, I think he shouldn't be making these kinds of decisions until he is an adult--they should be protecting him from all of this. And Oprah--the media whore herself--should be ashamed of herself that she would do this interview. (And, I have not seen the interview--I don't watch Oprah. I have read about this, though--take my opinion for what it is worth: NOTHING!)

--K really bummed me out when he revealed that he had been to the Big Boy restaurant for breakfast this morning! I was quite pissed--we were supposed to go together after the crowds died down. (The old restaurant burned down about three years or so ago and it just was rebuilt.)

--While all politicians are very good at talking without saying anything, I think Barak Obama has to be the best person EVER at this. He 'talks real purty,' but I can't find one bit of substance in what he has to say.

--I am soooo close to trying to put Linux on my computer. I would have done it already, but I am too dependent on programs that will only run on Windows. (As well as peripherals.) Doing a dual-boot WOULD solve the problem, though.

--I am getting new computer fever, the closer it gets to the day that Vista is put on the shelves.

--I think my next bigger purchase is going to be a Wii. I can't stand the thought that I don't have one already.

--'Heroes' returns tonight after many weeks--I can't wait! I will also be watching 'Prison Break'--hooray!!--and '24.' A good night of TV. Tomorrow night: 'Gilmore Girls' and 'Veronica Mars.' AND the YoungStars game and SuperSkills competition will be on Versus. (This is hockey. :)) Be still my heart!

--The AllStar game is on Versus on Wednesday night--can't decide if I will be cheering or booing. Too many players I don't like will be playing.

--I have to get in touch with a close friend this week. We usually try to get together for dinner every 4 to 6 weeks and haven't really even talked since the end of November! Way too long for us not to visit. A friendship is really like a marriage: you have to work at keeping it alive!

--I really must be in a horrible slump--I have been thinking WAAAAY too much about things I want to buy. NOT things I need, just want to buy.

--K starts night shift tonight. Then he is off for three days, works another four days and THEN it will be long weekend. I REALLY hope we can go on a road trip--I REALLY need it!

--There are times--as when I'm cleaning up litter or hacked-up hairballs--that I would like my cat to not be here. As in dead. Then I feel very bad, because I love her so much.

--I'm so over the Hollywood award shows. I used to LIVE for them, but I now find them just so useless.

--Today is the 34th anniversary of the Supreme Courts decision to legalize abortion. It is a very sad day.

Sunday Trivia

As my life is just about as boring as it can get, I don't have anything to write about. So, with that in mind, I hope you enjoy some trivia. Thanks to the January/February issue of mental_floss magazine for all of these facts.

--Both Neil Diamond and Giorgio Armani trained to be doctors but never finished med school.

--The actual name of the character in the board game 'Operation' is Cavity Sam.

--In India, starting 4000+ years ago and continuing as recently as the early years of British colonization, execution by elephant was done. This consisted of the (trained) elephant crushing the person's skull with its foot.

--The Iditarod dog sled race commemorates a 1925 emergency trip to get medical supplies from Nenana to Nome during a deadly diphtheria outbreak.

--A composer by the name of John Cage wrote a piece called "4'33"," which consists of 4 minutes and 33 minutes of silence. This is the most famous work of music to feature no music at all. (Personally, I don't understand this one!)

--In 1996, Betty Rubble replaced the stone-age car as one of the Flintstone vitamin shapes.

--In New Jersey and Oregon it is illegal to have self-service gas stations.

--Because Harper Lee never published anything after 'To Kill A Mockingbird,' some people think that Truman Capote (her close friend) actually wrote it.

--The Ken doll was re-released in February 2006--this, after he was 'dumped' by Barbie in 2004.

--Thalidomide is being used to treat cachexia (the severe weight loss often seen in AIDS and cancer patients) and skin conditions associated with leprosy.

--'The Scream' by Edvard Munch was stolen in 2004 from the Munch Museum in Norway. It was found two years later. To protect it from being stolen again, visitors and their belongings have to pass through a baggage scanner and metal detector before being allowed to see the painting. Also, two inches of bullet-proof glass protects the painting and it is bolted to the wall.

--Not only are there extreme security measures in place to protect the 45.5-carat Hope Diamond from being stolen, nobody knows for sure whether the one on display at the Smithsonian is the original.

--To gain entry into the vault at Fort Knox where the US gold reserve is, several staff members are required to enter their part of the combination. No single person knows the entire code.

--All of the Beatles were born in Liverpool, England.

--Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, had six fingers on her left hand.

--Bibendum is the actual name of the Michelin Man.

--A 'liger' is the offspring of a male lion and a female tiger. A 'tigon' is the cub of a male tiger and female lion. The males of each of these creations are believed to be sterile.

Very Sad

The Wings lost their second in a row--I'm sad. At least tonight's game was better played than last night's--but it still did no good. Hopefully, with the week off, they will get well rested and be back in good form when they play again on Friday.

Only one of the Detroit players--Lidstrom--will be playing in the All-Star game. Zetterberg took himself out of the game because he has tendinitis in his wrist and will probably need a cortisone shot before they play again. Good grief, they don't need another player that can't play! Tonight Kronwall had to leave the game because he got a cut from a skate across the bridge of his nose--they think he should be able to play next week. It is definitely okay that more Wings are not playing with the All-Stars--no need to put them out there and risk getting hurt.

'My boy,' Valterri Filppula, scored the only goal for Detroit tonight. Way to go!

I Attract Craziness

I must be on the 'strangest magazine' subscription offer list. Got another one in the mail today: Obit magazine. From what I can tell, it is going to be about dead people--famous and not so--and what their lives can tell us about our own. They will do in-depth obituaries and use them as a starting place for introspection. Oooookay!

But, this got me to thinking (not good)--am I ever going to be one who will not only 'never speak ill of the dead,' but a person who puts the dead on a pedestal? For example: K's identical twin died when they were 21. I liked b-i-l, we were good friends throughout high school, but I saw him for what he was: someone who was young, sometimes foolish, with great potential, but without direction. The family has idealized him to the point of absurdity--as if he could never do anything wrong. I really wonder how this makes K feel--after all, who knows a twin better than a twin? I'm sure K remembers his brother's faults better than anyone.

Some could say that I WILL be kinder to the dead when it is a close family member of mine who dies. Maybe. Another example I find extremely strange, though, comes from my own family. I was molested by an uncle when I was young. A cousin was another member who was molested by this same uncle. While I remember him as a drunk--NOT an alcoholic, a drunk--and a many-generation child molester, she only sees his potential for genius (which he had.) She acknowledges the abuse he did, just seems to put that aside and focuses on his intellect and what he could have been. Which one of us is the 'better' person? Her for trying to focus on the good and not the bad, or me--the one who cannot get over the true nature of the person? (And, no, I am not harboring any unresolved feelings about my abuse--I worked through that in therapy.)

The Mother had an absentee father--yet she cannot come out and say how mad and hurt she was by him. If she could only say that she hated him--as well as loved him--I think she could be a more whole individual. But heaven forbid you actually say a mean thing about someone who is dead! I don't understand it.

My, my, aren't we getting a little heavy for a Thursday! I think I have a headache now--must go.

And Furthermore...

While I realize with my last post that I explained the reasons for not liking football, I neglected to say why I think I HATE it. One reason and one reason only: Packer fans. I'm sure there are many who are NOT complete idiots, I just haven't found any. (And if any non-idiotic Packer fan happens to read this, I apologize.) And the biggest, most idiotic Packer fan I know: The Brother. Enough said.

I Hate Football

Now, from the title of this post, you would think I hate football. You just don't understand. See, I REALLY HATE FOOTBALL!!!!! That might bring across my message a little better. I have actually been know to cry when a football game--that is EVERY game ever played--has gone over its allotted time and caused a program I want to watch NOT to start at its scheduled time. (Don't worry, I am getting MUCH better about this--I haven't acted like that for at least two or three weeks!) I have tried to like the game. For crying out loud, when I was in high school and going with the 'love of my life,' I tried to understand and like the game just to be able to watch with him. Didn't happen.

In trying to understand a little bit more about my aversion to football, I can only come up with two possible reasons for why I don't like it: football was not watched by anyone--that means The Father--in the house while I was growing up and we didn't have a football team in the school I attended.

There was only one television set in the house while I was growing up and NO ONE dictated what was to be watched, but The Father. After all, he worked hard and it was his right to watch whatever he wanted when he relaxed. So, I had a very good education in westerns--'Gunsmoke', 'Have Gun Will Travel', and 'Rawhide' are just some of what we watched. I also got a real good education on a lot of country singers--if it was 'Hee Haw' or any other show that featured country music, it was watched. As for sports, we watched boxing--still a fav of mine--some baseball, and hockey. NEVER did a football game get played on the set. I attribute my love of hockey and boxing to those early, growing up years. ( I think I always wanted to be 'Daddy's girl'--never happened.)

The school district I attended was small. Our graduating class had about 35 people. We went from kindergarten through 5th grade in the school in the town I lived, and went from 6th through 12th in the school 3 miles away. We had a basketball team and a track team. We had a swimming pool--the only high school in the area (at that time) WITH a pool--and I'm not really sure whether there was a swim team or not. We didn't have a tennis team, despite the fact we had tennis courts. (The tennis courts were condemned because of the mine shafts under them--they were becoming hazardous because of the unused shafts beginning to cave in.) The high school hockey team didn't come about till after I had graduated. AND we had no football team--probably the only school in the area without one. For some reason or another, nobody questioned this. We had a trophy case with an old football in it--not sure why it was there--so it was understood that at some point in time there HAD been a team in the school. I believe the last team the school had was in the 1930s or 40s--and it could have been earlier. One time I questioned The Mother about this--she went to the same school--and she told me the reason football was discontinued had to do with a player who died. It is my understanding that this was the direct result of a football injury--whether he died during the game or after, I'm not sure. I have no idea where to go to find the story, either--I looked on the web, but it was no help. (Yoopergirl, maybe YOU would know where to find the answer!) Over the years, I have found it very strange that I never heard of anyone bringing up the possibility of starting a football program at the school again.

If The Father would have been a football nut--and with me wanting to please Daddy--I probably would have become a fan. If the school would have had a team, I would have had to, at the very least, TOLERATE football, because I was in the band and would have had to attend the games. But because neither of those things happened, I guess I will have to stick with hockey. Oh, I am sooooo sad! ;)

GO WINGS!

Been Tired Lately, Haven't Had Much To Say, EXCEPT...

The Wings won against Nashville tonight, 5-3. WHOO HOO!! This puts them just 2 points behing Nashville in the run for first in the division. The game definitely started off slow, but became very good as time went on. Only two more games till the All-Star break. Halfway through the year--lots more hockey to go!

I really have been in quite a slump lately. Don't know if it's the time of year or if my thyroid is off-whack again. I just think I can WILL myself out of this, but it isn't happening. I have to do something, though.

From the "And This Is Something We Didn't See Coming?" news:
Lindsay Lohan is in rehab. Here is the story. Now I'm just waiting for the story telling of Paula Abdul going in! (If you haven't seen the tape of her disastrous interview, you can find it here.)

Don't know how many of you know about 'Veggie Tales,' but I love them. 'Veggie Tales' are a series of cartoons and products that teach values and Bible stories in a unique and fun way--by using 'vegetables' as the actors. The company behind this very successful product has been around for at least 13 years. I liken 'Veggie Tales' to 'The Muppet Show' as it appeals to both children and adults, but 'Veggie Tales' are more 'message-based' shows. The humor is fantastic--silly enough for children and sophisticated enough for adults. One of my favorite parts of any 'Veggie Tales' CD is 'Silly Songs With Larry.' Here is one of my favs:



And if ALL school lessons were this much fun, we wouldn't be able to keep kids away from school! Enjoy:

Another Shutout!

The Wings won 2-0 over Montreal tonight, giving Hasek his 74th career shutout. This puts the 'Dominator' in the top 10 on the career shutout list! And the man is in good company with Tony Esposito, Jacques Plante, Martin Brodeur, and Terry Sawchuk. Surprisingly, he was passed over for the All-Star game next week--and at a league-leading 1.98 goals-against average! He seemed quite disappointed--as he should be--but it probably is a good thing. His injuries have historically come during the second half of the year, and he doesn't need to be taking any unnecessary risks. The longer he can go without an injury, the better the chances he will be healthy for the play-offs--when he really will be needed.